Milton Keynes’s state schools outscore 57% of towns in England
Milton Keynes’s secondaries average an Attainment 8 score of 45.1 across eight GCSEs, below Buckinghamshire’s towns (52.6) and close to towns in England (45.9). 75 state-funded schools are located in Milton Keynes’s built-up area. Milton Keynes grades B for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #26 of 39 in Buckinghamshire. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually get lower results. At Caroline Haslett Primary School, 22% of pupils are on free school meals and 88% meet the expected standard; a typical school in England with that intake reaches 63%. Results and intake ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Milton Keynes grades B for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (64% meet the standard)Better than 65% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (45.1 and 44%)Better than 46% of towns in England
Each of Milton Keynes’s 40 primaries: % meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (2023–25)
Each of Milton Keynes’s 10 secondaries: Attainment 8 (2025/26)
England’s average schoolMilton Keynes’s average school
The primary figure: 41 primaries in the town, 8,519 pupils in results over three years. The secondary figure: 10 secondaries in the town, 2,795 pupils in results. Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Milton Keynes’s 75 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Milton Keynes’s built-up area.
PrimarySecondarySpecial, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table.
Results and intake
Which schools do better than their intake suggests
Schools with more pupils on free school meals tend to get lower results. The dashed line is the typical school in England for each level of free school meals; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot above the band is doing better than schools like it.
Primaries: KS2 reading, writing and maths against free school meals
Secondaries: Attainment 8 against free school meals
The share of pupils on free school meals runs from 5% at Pepper Hill School to 63% at Langland Community School. Against schools with the same intake, Caroline Haslett Primary School does best: 88% with 22% on free school meals, where a typical school would reach 63%. 26 of 40 primaries and 2 of 10 secondaries are above the line.
Free school meals: pupils eligible now, DfE January 2026 census. The typical-school line is a straight-line fit across every graded school in England. It describes; it doesn’t grade: the School Grade uses results alone.
Getting a place
How school places work in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes Council handles applications for every state school in Milton Keynes, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 6 of Milton Keynes’s 70 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 11 schools are at or over it.
Oakgrove incl. nursery119%
Holmwood incl. nursery112%
Two Mile Ash109%
Giffard Park incl. nursery108%
Priory Rise incl. nursery107%
Downs Barn incl. nursery107%
Russell Street incl. nursery107%
St Mary Magdalene incl. nursery105%
Brooklands Farm incl. nursery105%
Denbigh105%
Show all 69 schools
Whitehouse incl. nursery100%
St Paul's100%
Middleton100%
Monkston100%
Caroline Haslett99%
Walton High99%
Brooksward99%
Kents Hill Park all-through school incl. nursery98%
Shenley Brook End97%
Loughton97%
Wavendon Gate96%
Ashbrook94%
Emerson Valley94%
The Radcliffe93%
New Bradwell incl. nursery93%
Stantonbury90%
Fairfields incl. nursery90%
Giles Brook incl. nursery90%
Loughton Manor First incl. nursery90%
Summerfield89%
Long Meadow88%
Lift Charles Warren87%
St Bernadette's incl. nursery86%
Falconhurst incl. nursery85%
Stanton85%
Jubilee Wood85%
Bradwell Village83%
Oxley Park incl. nursery83%
Oldbrook First incl. nursery83%
Moorland incl. nursery82%
St Monica's incl. nursery82%
Orchard82%
Greenleys Junior81%
Great Linford81%
Germander Park incl. nursery80%
Wyvern incl. nursery80%
Bushfield79%
Heelands79%
Watling79%
St Mary and St Giles incl. nursery78%
The Willows School and Early Years Centre77%
Glebe Farm incl. nursery77%
Glastonbury Thorn76%
Merebrook Infant72%
Willen71%
Wood End Infant & Pre-School70%
Heronsgate70%
Priory Common68%
Southwood66%
New Chapter66%
Langland Community incl. nursery60%
Shepherdswell incl. nursery60%
Heronshaw60%
The Milton Keynes60%
Howe Park59%
Pepper Hill incl. nursery57%
Christ the Sower Ecumenical incl. nursery50%
Watling incl. nursery49%
Heronshill incl. nursery41%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
75 state schools in Milton Keynes
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Milton Keynes’s schoolsA9B20C14D626 without a letter
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted report cards
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Outstanding 4Good 26Report card 4Requires improvement 1Ungraded inspection only 37No published grade 3
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 4 of Milton Keynes’s 75 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
Run by
Schools
Pupils
Their letters
Inspiring Futures Through LearningBrooklands Farm, Glebe Farm, Whitehouse, Two Mile Ash, Fairfields, St Mary and St Giles, Heronsgate, New Chapter, Holmwood, Ashbrook, Heronshaw, Heronshill
Kingsbridge Educational TrustOakgrove, Kents Hill Park all-through school, Middleton, Monkston
4
4,630
A−B−A+B+
Grand Union PartnershipNew Bradwell, Jubilee Wood
2
1,091
C+C+
East Midlands Academy TrustOrchard, Shepherdswell
2
402
D
Stephenson (Mk) TrustStephenson, Bridge Academy, All-through Alternative Provision
2
151
—
Tove Learning TrustStantonbury
1
1,409
D−
Creative Education TrustThe Milton Keynes
1
923
C−
Oxley Park Academy TrustOxley Park
1
695
B−
Oxford Diocesan Bucks Schools TrustChrist the Sower Ecumenical
1
212
B
Campfire Education TrustMoorland
1
194
D
Lift SchoolsLift Charles Warren
1
182
B−
Northampton Primary Academy TrustLangland Community
1
172
D
Milton Keynes CouncilSt Paul's, The Radcliffe, Giles Brook, Caroline Haslett, Wavendon Gate, St Bernadette's, St Monica's, Bushfield, Long Meadow, St Mary Magdalene, Wyvern, Summerfield, Stanton, Great Linford, Falconhurst, Giffard Park, Slated Row, Loughton Manor First, Bradwell Village, Greenleys Junior, Russell Street, The Redway, Oldbrook First, The Willows School and Early Years Centre, Southwood, Glastonbury Thorn, Pepper Hill, Germander Park, Howe Park, Downs Barn, Heelands, Wood End Infant & Pre-School, Priory Common, Moorlands Centre Nursery
34
10,548
CC−B+A+B−B−BB−CA−B+C+C+B−CB−C−B−
After 16
Where Milton Keynes’s teenagers go at 16
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
9 of Milton Keynes’s 12 state secondaries have sixth forms: Denbigh, Oakgrove, Shenley Brook End, St Paul's, Stantonbury, The Milton Keynes, The Radcliffe, Walton High and Watling. Milton Keynes College, a further-education college, is in the city.
Secondaries with a sixth form
9 of 12
state schools in Milton Keynes
Colleges within 12 miles
1
nearest: Milton Keynes College
Grammar schools in Milton Keynes
0
no selective state secondaries
Special needs
Special schools and alternative provision in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes has 3 special schools (Slated Row, Stephenson and The Redway: 538 pupils) and 1 alternative provision school, for pupils who can’t attend mainstream school for a time. A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Milton Keynes Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Milton Keynes Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
29th of 42 English towns and cities of 138,000 to 266,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns and cities either side of Milton Keynes, and the top and bottom of the group.
Old Stratford 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 4.8 mi
C+
65%
42.4
Woburn Sands 2 schools · uses schools within 3 km · 4.8 mi
C−
52%
44.2
Castlethorpe 1 school · uses schools within 3 km · 4.9 mi
A
69%
—
Aspley Guise 0 schools · uses schools within 3 km · 5.5 mi
C
56%
43.9
Castlethorpe has the best-graded schools nearby (A). Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
•
Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three. In Milton Keynes: 11% (England’s average school: 8%).
•
Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
•
Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
•
Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
•
Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
•
Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
•
Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Milton Keynes
Are schools in Milton Keynes good?
Milton Keynes’s state schools earn a B against schools across England: primary results beat 65% of towns in England; secondary results beat 46% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Milton Keynes council.
What is the best secondary school in Milton Keynes?
On 2025/26 GCSE results, Denbigh School: Attainment 8 of 56.2 and 64% with grade 5+ in English and maths, against 47.3 at the average school in England. Results are one measure; distance decides most places.
What is the best primary school in Milton Keynes?
On Key Stage 2 results over 2023–25, Middleton Primary School: 90% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England.
Do Milton Keynes secondary schools have sixth forms?
9 of 12 do.
How do I apply for a school place in Milton Keynes?
Through Milton Keynes Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Milton Keynes are full?
11 of 69 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Milton Keynes?
75 open state-funded schools are located in Milton Keynes’s built-up area: 60 primary, 12 secondary and 3 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
