Davenant Foundation School
Chester Road, Loughton, IG10 2LD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- DAVENANT FOUNDATION SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr Adam Thorne
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Epping Forest
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,170
- Pupils on roll
- 1,199
- URN
- 136625
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02085080404
About this school
Davenant Foundation School is a Church of England secondary academy in Loughton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,199 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 179 | 181 | 183 |
| Attainment 8 score | 56.6 | 55.4 | 56.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.48 +0.26 to +0.69 | +0.47 +0.26 to +0.68 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 68% | 67.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 83% | 82.3% | 83.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 51% | 47.5% | 52.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
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 Davenant Foundation 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 | 56.6 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.4 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56.7 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,233 |
| 2023/24 | 1,252 |
| 2024/25 | 1,239 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Davenant Foundation School compares
Davenant Foundation School ranked 9th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56.7 | 6.7% | 10.2% | 1,199 | — |
| Debden Park High School | 48.3 | 8.9% | 26.8% | 1,046 | 0.6 miles |
| Roding Valley High School | 47.1 | 8.8% | 22.6% | 1,473 | 1.8 miles |
| Epping St John's Church of England School | 42.8 | 9.9% | 22.6% | 1,036 | 2.4 miles |
| King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy | 36.5 | 8.6% | 34.5% | 812 | 3.5 miles |
| West Hatch High School | 49.5 | 7.2% | 20.6% | 1,573 | 3.6 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
-
Graded inspection report13 January 2026
- 28 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 10.2%
- English as an additional language
- 4.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.65%
- Persistent absence
- 18.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Debden Park High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Loughton
-
Roding Valley High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Loughton
-
Epping St John's Church of England School2.4 miles
Secondary · Epping
-
King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Waltham Abbey
-
West Hatch High School3.6 miles
Secondary · Chigwell
Other schools in Loughton
- Debden Park High School Secondary
- Roding Valley High School Secondary
- Hereward Primary School Primary
- High Beech CofE Primary School Primary
- St John Fisher Catholic Primary School Primary
- Staples Road Primary School Primary
- The Alderton Infant School and Nursery Primary
- The Alderton Junior School Primary
- Thomas Willingale Primary School and Nursery Primary
- White Bridge Primary School Primary
- Oak View School Academies
- Woodcroft School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Davenant Foundation School teach?
- Davenant Foundation School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Loughton.
- Who is the headteacher of Davenant Foundation School?
- The headteacher of Davenant Foundation School is Mr Adam Thorne, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Davenant Foundation School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Davenant Foundation 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 Davenant Foundation School?
- Davenant Foundation School has 1,199 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Davenant Foundation School full?
- Davenant Foundation School has capacity for 1,170 pupils and 1,199 on roll (102%), 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 Davenant Foundation School a faith school?
- Yes. Davenant Foundation School is designated Church of England.
- Is Davenant Foundation School a selective school?
- No. Davenant Foundation School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Davenant Foundation School?
- Davenant Foundation School is part of DAVENANT FOUNDATION SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Davenant Foundation School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 56.6 in 2022/23 and 56.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Davenant Foundation School rank locally?
- Davenant Foundation School ranked 9th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 90% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Davenant Foundation School's absence rate?
- Davenant Foundation School's overall absence rate is 6.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Davenant Foundation School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Davenant Foundation 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.