Chesham, Buckinghamshire · Buckinghamshire

Chesham Grammar School

One GCSE cohort hit 100% at grade 5+ in English and Maths — and its March 2025 Ofsted inspection sits in an odd transitional zone, using old category grades but no overall word.

Chesham sets no score above Buckinghamshire's flat county-wide threshold, and its own admissions policy confirms places are allocated by catchment and priority category, never by ranking test scores. Its March 2025 Ofsted inspection is worth understanding precisely: it postdates the September 2024 pause on overall single-word grades, but still uses the older four-point scale (Outstanding/Good/Requires improvement/Inadequate) for each of its five separate judgement areas, rather than the newer report-card wording seen at some other schools inspected slightly later — a genuine transitional-period artefact rather than an inconsistency to smooth over.

Key facts

Gender: co-ed
Age range: 11-18
Region: South East
Local authority: Buckinghamshire
Established: 1947
DfE URN: 137091
Website: https://www.cheshamgrammar.org

Admissions

Admissions authority: The school sets its own test and criteria
Entrance test board: The Buckinghamshire Secondary Transfer Test (STT). GL Assessment produces and marks the test — confirmed directly on Buckinghamshire Council's own page. Buckinghamshire Council administers the shared testing and coordination scheme, but the school's Trustees (Red Kite Schools Trust) set its own admissions policy.
Test format: Two papers sat on the same day in autumn of Year 6, each about an hour including practice examples, assessing verbal, mathematical and non-verbal skills. The three age-standardised component scores (60-170 scale) combine as a weighted sum — 50% verbal, 25% mathematical, 25% non-verbal — into a single Secondary Transfer Test Score (STTS).
Qualifying / pass mark: An STTS of 121 for September 2027 entry — the same flat county-wide threshold used identically by every Buckinghamshire grammar school. Up to 6 catchment places are reserved for Pupil-Premium-eligible children scoring 110-120, below the standard bar.
Superselective?: No

Catchment & priority criteria

A defined catchment area exists, published only as a map on the school's site. Secondary sources describe it as covering Chesham and neighbouring areas including Amersham, Prestwood, Great Missenden, Little Chalfont, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont Common and Chalfont St Peter, though this specific list isn't extractable from the primary map itself.partly verified

The specific village list comes from secondary aggregator sites, not the primary map itself.

Looked-after and previously looked-after children
Up to 6 places for catchment Pupil-Premium children scoring 110-120
Catchment Pupil-Premium children scoring 121+
Siblings on roll in Years 7-12 at time of admission
Children of staff (2+ years' service, or a skill-shortage recruit)
Children living in the catchment area
Exceptional medical or social needs, evidenced by an independent professional
Remaining places by straight-line distance

Results

Year	Attainment 8	GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths	Progress 8	A*–A	A*–B
2024	76.7 (Buckinghamshire LA average 53.6, England state-funded average 45.9)	100.0% (Bucks LA 59.5%, England 45.9%)	+0.84 ('Well above average', confidence interval +0.61 to +1.06) — this cohort predates the COVID-era gap	—	—
A-level (188 students): DfE's own average grade/points measure was A- (45.59 points), retention 98.4%. A specific A-A/A-B breakdown for this year couldn't be located from any source.
2025	74 (Bucks LA average 53.4, England state-funded average 46.1)	96.7% (Bucks LA 58.7%, England 45.4%)	Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally	~58-60% (partly-verified)	~85% (partly-verified)
A-level (210 students, school-reported): approximately 58-60% grades A-A, approximately 85% grades A-B. DfE's own measure: average grade A- (46.29 points), progress score +0.34 ('above average', confidence interval +0.26 to +0.42), retention 98.1%. EBacc entry 93.9%.

Ofsted

Rating: Outstanding in all five judged areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. No combined overall grade was issued, consistent with the post-September-2024 pause — though this report still uses the traditional four-point scale per area rather than the newer report-card wording. The previous inspection (2014) also rated the school Outstanding.
Date: 4-5 March 2025
Report: Read the full report

Sources

1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137091
2. School's own Admissions Policy 2027-28 — https://0e58658be539ee7325a0-220f04f871df648cf4a4d93a111e3366.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/chesham/uploads/document/Admissions-Policy-2027.pdf
3. Buckinghamshire Council — Marking the Secondary Transfer Test — https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-libraries-and-parks/school-admissions-and-appeals/guides-and-policies/guide-to-grammar-schools-and-the-secondary-school-transfer-test-11-plus/marking-the-secondary-transfer-test/
4. Ofsted report, inspected 4-5 March 2025 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50275723
5. School's own history page — founded 1947 — https://www.cheshamgrammar.org/5509/history-of-the-school
6. DfE Compare School Performance — Progress 8, 2023 and 2024 — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137091/chesham-grammar-school/secondary/progress-measures-for-2023-and-2024
7. School's own A-Level Results 2025 announcement — https://www.cheshamgrammar.org/200/latest-news/post/196/a-level-results-2025

Last updated 2026-08-31. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.