Melbourn's schools are one of the strongest reasons to live here. The village has its own primary and its own secondary. Primary maths results are solid. Nearly nine in ten graded schools across the county are good or outstanding. Getting a place is still up to the admissions office, however close you live.
The Department for Education's figures for the nine state primaries in the area give an average Key Stage 2 maths score of about 103. Melbourn Primary School is the one carrying the village's name, and Meldreth Primary School and Fowlmere Primary School serve the villages on either side, so most families have a choice of primaries within a short drive. A score of 103 is an average across all nine schools, and each one will differ from it.
At secondary level, the three state secondaries in the area averaged an Attainment 8 score of about 44, weighted by pupil numbers. Melbourn Village College is the one in the village itself, and Bassingbourn Village College is the other Cambridgeshire option nearby. King James Academy Royston is across the county border in Hertfordshire. Families on the Melbourn side of that border therefore have two village colleges in one county and a third school in another.
Across Cambridgeshire, Ofsted has graded 110 of 126 schools good or outstanding, which is close to nine in every ten. Seven are rated outstanding, 13 require improvement and three are inadequate. The grades are county-wide, so they cover classrooms from Wisbech to the Hertfordshire border, and they tell you how the county is doing more than how any one Melbourn school is.
Places are given out under the council's published admissions rules, so living within sight of Melbourn Village College does not entitle a child to a seat in it, and a school's name matching the village counts for nothing at allocation time. The border makes this more complicated. King James Academy Royston admits through Hertfordshire's process and the Cambridgeshire schools through Cambridgeshire's, so check which council's deadlines and rules apply to the school you have in mind. The Year 7 offer letter then shows how well that homework was done.
For families, schools are one of Melbourn's real strengths: a primary and a secondary in the village and a county where most graded schools are good. The open question is which council's admissions rules apply to your address.