Ely College

About Ely College

If you're a parent weighing up Ely College, the first thing to know is that most families who've been through it would recommend it. In the most recent Parent View survey, covering responses from September 2024 to September 2025, 75% of the 293 respondents said they would recommend the school to other parents. That's a solid majority, though it's worth noting that a quarter said they wouldn't. The school is also clearly popular locally: for the 2025/26 academic year, it received 376 applications for 258 places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.46 applicants per place. Of those, 250 offers went to first-preference families out of 252 who put it top of their list, so getting in as a first choice is very likely but not guaranteed. On specific questions, parents were most positive about clubs and activities (92% agreed or strongly agreed their child could take part) and the range of subjects on offer (91% agreed or strongly agreed). The trickier areas were around support for children with SEND and how concerns are handled, where satisfaction was notably lower.

Academically, Ely College is performing well above the national average. Its Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year was 0.65, which is significantly higher than the Cambridgeshire local authority average of 0.17. That places the school 6th out of 39 state secondaries in the county, and in the top 11% nationally. The Attainment 8 score sits at 52.3, and 80.2% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The school's Progress 8 banding is officially rated as 'Well above average', with particularly strong progress in maths (0.8) and the EBacc subjects (0.81). At A-level, the picture is more mixed: the value added score is -0.19, which falls within the 'Average' banding, and the average points per entry is 26.08, equivalent to a C- grade. The sixth form is rated Good by Ofsted, and the school's leadership and management was judged Outstanding in its most recent graded inspection in 2019, with an ungraded inspection in March 2025 noting that the school had 'Improved significantly' since its previous Inadequate rating in 2015.

In terms of day-to-day life, Ely College is a large secondary with 1,649 pupils on a capacity of 1,650, so it's essentially full. It has a dedicated Sixth Form Centre for post-16 students, and the facilities include a theatre, sports hall, astro turf, science labs, music rooms, and an ICT suite. The sports on offer include rowing, martial arts, and gymnastics alongside more traditional options, and there's a wide range of clubs from coding and Model UN to gardening and choir. The school has a formal SEND register covering eight categories, including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Speech, Language & Communication needs, and Social, Emotional & Mental Health difficulties, though the Parent View data suggests that 57% of parents with SEND children disagreed that the school provides the support their child needs. With 15.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school is slightly above the national average for disadvantage. This is a school that suits families who value strong academic progress and a broad extracurricular offer, but it's worth investigating the SEND provision carefully if your child has additional needs.

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