The Chalfonts Community College

About The Chalfonts Community College

The Chalfonts Community College sits within the Buckinghamshire local authority, a county known for its strong grammar school presence. Among the 38 state secondary schools in the area, the school ranks 32nd by Progress 8 score, placing it in the bottom half of the local league table. The top-performing peers in the authority are all selective schools: Dr Challoner's Grammar School, The Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, and Dr Challoner's High School, each with Progress 8 scores well above 1.0. Chalfonts, by contrast, is a non-selective, mixed comprehensive for pupils aged 11 to 18, and its local ranking reflects the challenge of competing in a selective authority. The school is led by headteacher Caroline Whitehead and currently has 1,134 pupils on roll, against a total capacity of 1,531. Just over a fifth of its students (22.3%) are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average and gives some context to the school's intake.

Academically, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in November 2022 rated it Good across all categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This was a consistent outcome compared with its previous inspection in 2013, which also rated overall effectiveness as Good. However, the school's Progress 8 score for 2023/24 stands at -0.54, which is well below average nationally and significantly behind the Buckinghamshire LA average of +0.25. Attainment 8 sits at 39.5, and the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths is 35.1%, while 59% achieved a grade 4 or above. The EBacc average point score is 3.21, with only 10.4% of pupils entering the EBacc combination of subjects. In the sixth form, the picture is more positive: value added is 0.04, classed as average, with a points per entry of 27.38 (equivalent to a C- grade), and the best three A-levels average out at a grade C.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a theatre, sports hall, tennis courts, science labs, art studios, and a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports provision is broad, with football, rugby, cricket, swimming, hockey, and martial arts all available, and there are clubs covering chess, debate, drama, science, choir, and Model UN. The school's SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school offered 247 places and received 243 total applications, with 80 first-preference offers made, meaning it was not oversubscribed. This suggests the school may be a realistic option for families who do not secure a grammar school place, particularly those looking for a large comprehensive with a broad curriculum and strong SEND support.

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