Which school has the best GCSE results in Cambridge?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Parkside Community College tops the table in Cambridge with 65.9, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Cambridge schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Cambridge show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Cambridge GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

17 state secondary schools in Cambridge ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 8 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Town 17 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Cambridge ranked on Attainment 8

17 of 17 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Cambridge ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1 , up 1 place since 2025	Parkside Community College Cambridge · Academy converter	65.9	49%	82%	90%	–	125
2 , down 1 place since 2025	Chesterton Community College Cambridge · Academy converter	65.4	42%	73%	85%	–	198
3	St Bede's Inter-Church School Cambridge · Academy converter	62.9	33%	75%	89%	–	177
4 , up 1 place since 2025	Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology Cambridge · University technical college	62.1	28%	70%	91%	–	109
5 , down 1 place since 2025	Impington Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	61.4	45%	72%	83%	–	237
6 , up 2 places since 2025	Coleridge Community College Cambridge · Academy converter	58.7	31%	74%	81%	–	109
7 , down 1 place since 2025	Comberton Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	56.8	26%	61%	75%	–	292
8 , up 7 places since 2025	Trumpington Community College Cambridge · Academy converter	56.6	33%	67%	79%	–	107
9	Swavesey Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	55.7	24%	59%	78%	–	240
10 , down 3 places since 2025	Sawston Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	54.2	23%	60%	74%	–	236
11 , up 1 place since 2025	Cambourne Village College Cambridge · Free schools	53.7	28%	59%	77%	–	275
12 , down 1 place since 2025	Cottenham Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	52.9	20%	57%	79%	–	173
13	Northstowe Learning Community Cambridge · Academy converter	52.8	14%	60%	74%	–	131
14	Bottisham Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	50.7	20%	53%	71%	–	290
15 , down 5 places since 2025	Linton Village College Cambridge · Academy converter	48.8	14%	49%	69%	–	143
16 , up 1 place since 2025	North Cambridge Academy Cambridge · Academy sponsor led	48.6	16%	40%	62%	–	122
17 , down 1 place since 2025	The Netherhall School Cambridge · Academy sponsor led	46.8	17%	50%	63%	–	204

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Cambridge with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS and CSVPA) Cambridge · Other independent school	3.1	0%	40
Heritage School Cambridge · Other independent school	31.3	0%	19
Landmark International School Cambridge · Other independent school	5.5	0%	18
Mander Portman Woodward Cambridge · Other independent school	25.9	0%	14
Red Balloon Learner Centre - Cambridge Cambridge · Other independent school	11.4	7%	14
St. Andrew's College Cambridge Cambridge · Other independent school	6.9	0%	18
St Mary's School Cambridge · Other independent school	57.3	78%	88
The Leys School Cambridge · Other independent school	37.3	0%	116

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Cambridge on our composite score

Cambridge GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Cambridge ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Cambridge with published GCSE results

More about schools in Cambridge

Cambridge GCSE results: common questions