Harris Academy Benfleet
Croft Road, Benfleet, SS7 5RN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- HARRIS FEDERATION
- Headteacher
- Sarah Cox
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Harris Federation
- Constituency
- Castle Point
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,597
- URN
- 136579
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01268794215
About this school
Harris Academy Benfleet is a secondary academy in Benfleet. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,597 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 20 November 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 264 | 254 | 286 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.0 | 41.9 | 39.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.28 -0.45 to -0.11 | -0.63 -0.81 to -0.46 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 41.3% | 31.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 65.7% | 57.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 49.6% | 38.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
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 Harris Academy Benfleet 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 | 47 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.9 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.6 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,607 |
| 2023/24 | 1,602 |
| 2024/25 | 1,561 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Harris Academy Benfleet compares
Harris Academy Benfleet ranked 58th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.6 | 10.6% | 20.1% | 1,597 | — |
| The King John School | 49.6 | 5.9% | 16% | 2,098 | 1.9 miles |
| The Deanes | 34.4 | 11.5% | 32% | 588 | 2.0 miles |
| The Basildon Upper Academy | 28.7 | 20.8% | 47.6% | 847 | 2.1 miles |
| The Cornelius Vermuyden School | — | — | — | — | 2.6 miles |
| The Basildon Lower Academy | — | 15.3% | 52.4% | 892 | 2.8 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)
- 20.13%
- English as an additional language
- 6.9%
- Overall absence
- 10.56%
- Persistent absence
- 28.99%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The King John School1.9 miles
Secondary · Benfleet
-
The Deanes2.0 miles
Secondary · Benfleet
-
The Basildon Upper Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Basildon
-
The Cornelius Vermuyden School2.6 miles
Secondary · Canvey Island
-
The Basildon Lower Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Basildon
Other schools in Benfleet
- The Deanes Secondary
- The King John School Secondary
- Hadleigh Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Hadleigh Junior School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School Primary
- Jotmans Hall Primary School Primary
- Kents Hill Infant Academy Primary
- Kents Hill Junior School Primary
- Montgomerie Primary School Primary
- South Benfleet Primary School Primary
- The Robert Drake Primary School Primary
- Thundersley Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
- School name changed from The Appleton School to Harris Academy Benfleet recorded 19 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Harris Academy Benfleet teach?
- Harris Academy Benfleet teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Benfleet.
- Who is the headteacher of Harris Academy Benfleet?
- The headteacher of Harris Academy Benfleet is Sarah Cox, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Harris Academy Benfleet last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Harris Academy Benfleet, 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 Harris Academy Benfleet?
- Harris Academy Benfleet has 1,597 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Harris Academy Benfleet full?
- Harris Academy Benfleet has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,597 on roll (106%), 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 Harris Academy Benfleet a faith school?
- No. Harris Academy Benfleet has no designated religious character.
- Is Harris Academy Benfleet a selective school?
- No. Harris Academy Benfleet is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Harris Academy Benfleet?
- Harris Academy Benfleet is part of HARRIS FEDERATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Harris Academy Benfleet's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47 in 2022/23 and 39.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Harris Academy Benfleet rank locally?
- Harris Academy Benfleet ranked 58th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Harris Academy Benfleet's absence rate?
- Harris Academy Benfleet's overall absence rate is 10.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Harris Academy Benfleet's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Harris Academy Benfleet'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 19 September 2026.