King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy
Broomstick Hall Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1LF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST
- Head of School
- Mr Andrew Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Kemnal Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Epping Forest
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 812
- URN
- 136342
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01992714800
About this school
King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy is a secondary academy in Waltham Abbey. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 812 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 129 | 144 | 132 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.9 | 38.7 | 36.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.39 -0.64 to -0.15 | -0.34 -0.58 to -0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 27% | 32.6% | 31.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 58.3% | 55.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 21.5% | 14.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
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 King Harold Business & Enterprise 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 | 37.9 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.7 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.5 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 760 |
| 2023/24 | 783 |
| 2024/25 | 797 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy compares
King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy ranked 70th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.5 | 8.6% | 34.5% | 812 | — |
| Oasis Academy Enfield | 38.4 | 10.4% | 57% | 690 | 2.0 miles |
| Haileybury Turnford | 43.3 | 7.5% | 33.3% | 1,021 | 2.3 miles |
| The Lea Valley Academy | 33.3 | 11% | 55% | 830 | 2.5 miles |
| Goffs - Churchgate Academy | 42.6 | 9.2% | 33.9% | 582 | 2.7 miles |
| St Mary's Church of England High School (VA) | 45 | 8.6% | 37.6% | 911 | 3.1 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 34.5%
- English as an additional language
- 16.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.63%
- Persistent absence
- 25.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Oasis Academy Enfield2.0 miles
Secondary · Enfield
-
Haileybury Turnford2.3 miles
Secondary · Waltham Cross
-
The Lea Valley Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Enfield
-
Goffs - Churchgate Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Waltham Cross
-
St Mary's Church of England High School (VA)3.1 miles
Secondary · Waltham Cross
Other schools in Waltham Abbey
- Hillhouse CofE Primary School Primary
- Leverton Primary School Primary
- Nazeing Primary School Primary
- Upshire Primary Foundation School Primary
- Waltham Holy Cross Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy teach?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Waltham Abbey.
- Who is the head of school of King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy?
- The head of school of King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy is Mr Andrew Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected King Harold Business & Enterprise 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 big is King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy has 812 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy full?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 812 on roll (108%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy a faith school?
- No. King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy a selective school?
- No. King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy is part of THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.9 in 2022/23 and 36.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy rank locally?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy ranked 70th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy's absence rate?
- King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, King Harold Business & Enterprise 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 15 July 2026.