Honywood School
Westfield Drive, Coggeshall, Colchester, CO6 1PZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SAFFRON ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr James Saunders
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Saffron Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Witham
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 800
- Pupils on roll
- 849
- URN
- 136729
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01376561231
About this school
Honywood School is a secondary academy in Colchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 849 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Honywood School, 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 | 174 | 165 | 139 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.4 | 45.1 | 46.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.26 -0.47 to -0.04 | -0.33 -0.55 to -0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 45.5% | 47.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 66.1% | 66.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 36% | 28.5% | 33.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
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 Honywood 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 | 45.4 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.1 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.3 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 789 |
| 2023/24 | 783 |
| 2024/25 | 821 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Honywood School compares
Honywood School ranked 29th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% 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 | 46.3 | 9.2% | 20.5% | 849 | — |
| Lift New Rickstones | 40.6 | 9.2% | 31.3% | 1,221 | 4.7 miles |
| Thurstable School | 41.9 | 9.2% | 19% | 932 | 4.7 miles |
| Alec Hunter Academy | 45.7 | 6.2% | 20.1% | 1,058 | 4.8 miles |
| The Ramsey Academy, Halstead | 39.3 | 9.3% | 24.9% | 702 | 5.1 miles |
| Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form | 44.9 | 9.6% | 19.8% | 1,210 | 6.0 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)
- 20.46%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.18%
- Persistent absence
- 24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lift New Rickstones4.7 miles
Secondary · Witham
-
Thurstable School4.7 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Alec Hunter Academy4.8 miles
Secondary · Braintree
-
The Ramsey Academy, Halstead5.1 miles
Secondary · Halstead
-
Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form6.0 miles
Secondary · Braintree
Other schools in Colchester
Honywood School ranks 7th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Colchester.
- Colchester Academy Secondary
- Colchester County High School for Girls Secondary
- Colchester Royal Grammar School Secondary
- Colne Community School Secondary
- East Bergholt High 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 Honywood School teach?
- Honywood School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Colchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Honywood School?
- The headteacher of Honywood School is Mr James Saunders, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Honywood School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Honywood 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 many pupils are at Honywood School?
- Honywood School has 849 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Honywood School full?
- Honywood School has capacity for 800 pupils and 849 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 Honywood School a faith school?
- No. Honywood School has no designated religious character.
- Is Honywood School a selective school?
- No. Honywood School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Honywood School part of an academy trust?
- Honywood School is part of SAFFRON ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Honywood School have?
- The schools register lists Honywood School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Honywood School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.4 in 2022/23 and 46.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Honywood School compare with other schools in Essex?
- Honywood School ranked 29th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% 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 Honywood School's absence rate?
- Honywood School's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Honywood School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Honywood 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.