Colchester Academy
Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, CO4 3JL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PENROSE LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Jenny Betts
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 910
- Pupils on roll
- 879
- URN
- 136195
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206861217
About this school
Colchester Academy is a secondary academy in Colchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 879 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Colchester Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 151 | 179 | 201 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.9 | 34.9 | 38.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.56 -0.80 to -0.33 | -0.91 -1.13 to -0.69 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 22% | 21.8% | 31.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 38% | 36.9% | 50.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 11% | 26.8% | 32.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Colchester Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 36.9 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.9 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.5 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 897 |
| 2023/24 | 913 |
| 2024/25 | 899 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Colchester Academy compares
Colchester Academy ranked 65th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.5 | 13.9% | 44.1% | 879 | — |
| The Gilberd School | 53.4 | 7.1% | 16.3% | 1,588 | 1.7 miles |
| The Trinity School | — | 8.5% | 17.1% | 780 | 1.8 miles |
| St Helena School | 46 | 8% | 31.3% | 986 | 2.2 miles |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | 82.1 | 5.4% | 6.6% | 1,073 | 2.3 miles |
| The Thomas Lord Audley School | 42.3 | 7.6% | 35.7% | 940 | 2.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.05%
- English as an additional language
- 16.2%
- Overall absence
- 13.92%
- Persistent absence
- 36.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Gilberd School1.7 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
The Trinity School1.8 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
St Helena School2.2 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester Royal Grammar School2.3 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
The Thomas Lord Audley School2.4 miles
Secondary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
Colchester Academy ranks 14th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Colchester.
- Colchester County High School for Girls Secondary
- Colchester Royal Grammar School Secondary
- Colne Community School Secondary
- East Bergholt High School Secondary
- Honywood School Secondary
- Paxman Academy Secondary
- Philip Morant School and College Secondary
- St Benedict's Catholic College Secondary
- St Helena School Secondary
- The Gilberd School Secondary
- The Stanway School Secondary
- The Thomas Lord Audley School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Colchester Academy teach?
- Colchester Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Colchester.
- Who is the principal of Colchester Academy?
- The principal of Colchester Academy is Mrs Jenny Betts, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Colchester Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Colchester Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Colchester Academy?
- Colchester Academy has 879 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Colchester Academy full?
- Colchester Academy has capacity for 910 pupils and 879 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Colchester Academy a faith school?
- No. Colchester Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Colchester Academy a selective school?
- No. Colchester Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Colchester Academy part of an academy trust?
- Colchester Academy is part of PENROSE LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Colchester Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.9 in 2022/23 and 38.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Colchester Academy compare with other schools in Essex?
- Colchester Academy ranked 65th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Colchester Academy's absence rate?
- Colchester Academy's overall absence rate is 13.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Colchester Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Colchester Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.