Dr Challoner's Grammar School A GSG School
- Dr Challoner's Grammar School
Chesham Road
Amersham
Buckinghamshire
HP6 5HA - Head: David Atkinson
- T 01494 787500
- F 01494 721862
- E admin@challoners.com
- W www.challoners.com
- A state school for boys aged from 11 to 18.
- Read about the best schools in Buckinghamshire
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: Buckinghamshire
- Pupils: 1,371; sixth formers: 449 (359 boys, 90 girls)
- Religion: None
- Open days: 14th September
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
-
Ofsted:
- Latest Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1
- 16-19 study programmes Outstanding 1
- Outcomes for children and learners Outstanding 1
- Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1
- Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1
- Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 1
- 1 Full inspection 5th November 2019
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Remains Bucks’ top performing boys’ grammar school, regularly appearing in the top 20 state schools nationally; no wonder the Challoner’s brand is synonymous far and wide with academic excellence. Don’t believe the hype about it being overly pressurised, insist pupils, although they quickly add, ‘some of us do put a lot pressure on ourselves’ and admit that ‘a B can be disappointing.’ This school is proof that an elitist approach to sport can be turned around into an offering so inclusive that pupils don’t remember it any other way, even ...
What the school says...
Entrance examination consists of: VR tests administered by Bucks County Council.
Converted to an academy January 2011.
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School associations
State grammar school
What The Good Schools Guide says
Headmaster
Since 2016, David Atkinson (40s), previously deputy head. Geography degree from Oxford; joined Challoner’s in 1996, becoming head of geography and director of sixth form on his way up. A chartered geographer, appointed to the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his work in geographical education, including texts on geomorphology. Has worked to promote wider access to higher education, especially in STEM subjects; leads the Astra Learning Alliance, which provides training and development for teachers in Bucks and Herts.
Reserved, unassuming and thoroughly likable, he keeps a hand in teaching – ‘Contact with grass roots is essential and teaching is what the school’s all about.’ Has enhanced the staff well-being and mental health offering so much that they’ve won an award from MIND (one of only two schools to do so)...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
The school provides support for boys to access the normal curriculum co-ordinated by a SENCO, along with a small amount of one to one support provided by a dedicated SEN teacher.
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | |
| Aspergers | Y |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders | Y |
| CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia | |
| Dyscalculia | |
| Dysgraphia | |
| Dyslexia | |
| Dyspraxia | |
| English as an additional language (EAL) | |
| Genetic | |
| Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory | |
| Has SEN unit or class | |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | |
| Hospital School | |
| Mental health | |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| Natspec Specialist Colleges | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | |
| Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| Special facilities for Visually Impaired | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| VI - Visual Impairment |
Interpreting catchment maps
The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.
Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.
For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained
Further reading
If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.
Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.
Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.
*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.
The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.
Children get into the school from here:
regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places |
|---|---|---|
| Chesham Preparatory School | 2023 | 8 |
| Gayhurst School | 2023 | 4 |
| The Beacon School | 2023 | 20 |
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