Sir Thomas Fremantle School

About Sir Thomas Fremantle School

Sir Thomas Fremantle School is a mixed state secondary in Buckinghamshire that serves 632 pupils against a capacity of 650, meaning it runs very close to full. The school’s intake stands out locally: 24 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure well above the national average for secondary schools and a clear signal that this is a genuinely comprehensive, non-selective school in a selective authority. Demand is strong — for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 382 applications for 145 places, with 147 first-preference applications and 128 first-preference offers. That oversubscription ratio of 2.63 per place shows a school that local families are actively choosing, despite the presence of nearby grammar schools that dominate the top of the local performance tables.

Academically, Sir Thomas Fremantle delivers solid, middle-of-the-road results. Its Progress 8 score of 0.03 is exactly in line with the national average, meaning pupils achieve broadly what is expected given their starting points. That places the school 21st out of 34 secondaries in Buckinghamshire, and in the 46th percentile nationally. The Attainment 8 score sits at 44.3, and 70.3 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is high at 80.2 per cent, though only 32.7 per cent of pupils actually achieved the EBacc at grade 4 or above. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in May 2024, confirmed it remains Good overall, with leadership and management also rated Good. The previous graded inspection was in 2015, also Good, so the school has held that rating consistently.

The school offers a strong range of facilities for a state secondary, including a swimming pool, astro turf, tennis courts, a sports hall and a theatre. Sports provision is broad, with rowing, rugby, hockey and athletics among the options, and there are clubs covering coding, debating, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and a newspaper. SEND provision is extensive, covering nine categories including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. There is no sixth form, so pupils will need to move on after Year 11. For families who want a genuinely mixed, non-selective school in a selective area, with a diverse intake and a wide range of extracurriculars, Sir Thomas Fremantle is a practical choice — though oversubscription means getting a place is not guaranteed.

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