William de Ferrers School
Trinity Square, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, CM3 5JU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE CHELMSFORD LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr James Donaldson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Chelmsford Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- Maldon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,076
- Pupils on roll
- 1,237
- URN
- 136605
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01245326326
About this school
William de Ferrers School is a secondary academy in Chelmsford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,237 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 183 | 218 | 216 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.7 | 41.2 | 44.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.66 -0.86 to -0.45 | -0.41 -0.59 to -0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 27% | 39.4% | 38.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 50% | 60.6% | 69% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 12% | 15.6% | 9.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
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 William de Ferrers School 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 | 38.7 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.2 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.1 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,246 |
| 2023/24 | 1,294 |
| 2024/25 | 1,247 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How William de Ferrers School compares
William de Ferrers School ranked 41st of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.1 | 9.1% | 17.5% | 1,237 | — |
| Lift Greensward | 49.4 | 6.3% | 14.2% | 1,605 | 3.3 miles |
| The Sweyne Park School | 44 | 7.8% | 19.9% | 1,429 | 3.6 miles |
| The FitzWimarc School | 45.2 | 7.6% | 15.2% | 1,770 | 3.8 miles |
| Beauchamps High School | 48.1 | 8.1% | 14.7% | 1,486 | 4.0 miles |
| The King Edmund School | 36.3 | 9.7% | 33.5% | 1,318 | 4.9 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)
- 17.49%
- English as an additional language
- 2.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.1%
- Persistent absence
- 24.53%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lift Greensward3.3 miles
Secondary · Hockley
-
The Sweyne Park School3.6 miles
Secondary · Rayleigh
-
The FitzWimarc School3.8 miles
Secondary · Rayleigh
-
Beauchamps High School4.0 miles
Secondary · Wickford
-
The King Edmund School4.9 miles
Secondary · Rochford
Other schools in Chelmsford
William de Ferrers School ranks 10th of the 11 ranked secondary schools in Chelmsford.
- Chelmer Valley High School Secondary
- Chelmsford County High School for Girls Secondary
- Great Baddow High School Secondary
- Hylands School Secondary
- King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford Secondary
- Moulsham High School Secondary
- St John Payne Catholic School, Chelmsford Secondary
- The Boswells School Secondary
- The Sandon School Secondary
- Tanglewood Nursery School Nursery
- Woodcroft Nursery School Nursery
- Baddow Hall Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does William de Ferrers School teach?
- William de Ferrers School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chelmsford.
- Who is the headteacher of William de Ferrers School?
- The headteacher of William de Ferrers School is Mr James Donaldson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was William de Ferrers School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected William de Ferrers School, 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 William de Ferrers School?
- William de Ferrers School has 1,237 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is William de Ferrers School full?
- William de Ferrers School has capacity for 2,076 pupils and 1,237 on roll (60%), so it has space against 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 William de Ferrers School a faith school?
- No. William de Ferrers School has no designated religious character.
- Is William de Ferrers School a selective school?
- No. William de Ferrers School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs William de Ferrers School?
- William de Ferrers School is part of THE CHELMSFORD LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have William de Ferrers School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.7 in 2022/23 and 44.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does William de Ferrers School rank locally?
- William de Ferrers School ranked 41st of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is William de Ferrers School's absence rate?
- William de Ferrers School's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are William de Ferrers School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, William de Ferrers School'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.