William Edwards School
Stifford Clays Road, Stifford Clays, Grays, RM16 3NJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SOUTH WEST ESSEX COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lynne Sexton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- South West Essex Community Education Trust (SWECET)
- Constituency
- Thurrock
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 984
- URN
- 137214
- Local authority
- Thurrock
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01375486000
About this school
William Edwards School is a secondary academy in Grays. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 984 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
- Expected standard
- 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 | 264 | 243 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.4 | 43.8 | 42.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.41 -0.59 to -0.24 | -0.29 -0.47 to -0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 40.7% | 34.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 64.2% | 54.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 28% | 46.1% | 42.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.8 | 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 Edwards 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 | Thurrock average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.4 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.8 | 42.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.5 | 43.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,225 |
| 2023/24 | 1,180 |
| 2024/25 | 1,105 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How William Edwards School compares
William Edwards School ranked 9th of 11 secondary schools in Thurrock for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.5 | 8% | 21.7% | 984 | — |
| The Hathaway Academy | 41.1 | 8.5% | 30.9% | 586 | 1.0 miles |
| Orsett Heath Academy | 47 | 7.1% | 23.1% | 699 | 1.0 miles |
| Grays Convent High School | 55.7 | 5.5% | 21.3% | 655 | 1.4 miles |
| Thames Park Secondary School | 46.4 | 8.5% | 31.4% | 808 | 2.1 miles |
| Harris Academy Chafford Hundred | 55.5 | 4.9% | 15.8% | 1,435 | 2.3 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 report10 March 2026
- 7 November 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.72%
- English as an additional language
- 8.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.96%
- Persistent absence
- 24.61%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Hathaway Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Grays
-
Orsett Heath Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Grays
-
Grays Convent High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Grays
-
Thames Park Secondary School2.1 miles
Secondary · Grays
-
Harris Academy Chafford Hundred2.3 miles
Secondary · Grays
Other schools in Grays
William Edwards School ranks 6th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Grays.
- Grays Convent High School Secondary
- Harris Academy Chafford Hundred Secondary
- Orsett Heath Academy Secondary
- Thames Park Secondary School Secondary
- The Gateway Academy Secondary
- The Hathaway Academy Secondary
- Belmont Castle Academy Primary
- Chadwell St Mary Primary School Primary
- Deneholm Primary School Primary
- Harris Primary Academy Chafford Hundred Primary
- Herringham Primary Academy Primary
- Little Thurrock Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does William Edwards School teach?
- William Edwards School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Grays.
- Who is the headteacher of William Edwards School?
- The headteacher of William Edwards School is Mrs Lynne Sexton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was William Edwards School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected William Edwards 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 Edwards School?
- William Edwards School has 984 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is William Edwards School full?
- William Edwards School has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 984 on roll (82%), 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 Edwards School a faith school?
- No. William Edwards School has no designated religious character.
- Is William Edwards School a selective school?
- No. William Edwards School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs William Edwards School?
- William Edwards School is part of SOUTH WEST ESSEX COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have William Edwards School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2022/23 and 42.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does William Edwards School rank locally?
- William Edwards School ranked 9th of 11 secondary schools in Thurrock for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% 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 Edwards School's absence rate?
- William Edwards School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are William Edwards School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, William Edwards 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 15 July 2026.