Plume School
Fambridge Road, Maldon, CM9 6AB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- PLUME SCHOOL
- Principal
- Mr Tom Baster
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Maldon
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,841
- Pupils on roll
- 1,789
- URN
- 137790
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01621854681
About this school
Plume School is a secondary academy in Maldon. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,789 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Plume 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
- 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 | 287 | 289 | 289 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.6 | 43.6 | 42.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.54 -0.70 to -0.37 | -0.37 -0.54 to -0.20 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 43.9% | 37% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 64.7% | 59.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 13.8% | 17.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.6 | 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 Plume 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 | 44.6 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.6 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.9 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,706 |
| 2023/24 | 1,736 |
| 2024/25 | 1,786 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Plume School compares
Plume School ranked 46th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.9 | 8% | 26.4% | 1,789 | — |
| Lift Maltings | 39.9 | 12.8% | 25.8% | 787 | 5.0 miles |
| William de Ferrers School | 44.1 | 9.1% | 17.5% | 1,237 | 6.3 miles |
| Lift New Rickstones | 40.6 | 9.2% | 31.3% | 1,221 | 6.4 miles |
| The Sandon School | 46.6 | 9% | 16.8% | 1,218 | 6.9 miles |
| Thurstable School | 41.9 | 9.2% | 19% | 932 | 6.9 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)
- 26.42%
- English as an additional language
- 3.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.04%
- Persistent absence
- 22.3%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lift Maltings5.0 miles
Secondary · Witham
-
William de Ferrers School6.3 miles
Secondary · Chelmsford
-
Lift New Rickstones6.4 miles
Secondary · Witham
-
The Sandon School6.9 miles
Secondary · Chelmsford
-
Thurstable School6.9 miles
Secondary · Colchester
Other schools in Maldon
- All Saints Maldon Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Great Totham Primary School Primary
- Heybridge Primary School Primary
- Limebrook Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Maldon Primary School Primary
- St Francis Catholic Primary School, Maldon Primary
- Tollesbury School Primary
- Tolleshunt D'Arcy St Nicholas Primary Academy Primary
- Wentworth Primary School Primary
- Woodham Walter Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Mid Essex Co-Operative Academy Academies
- Maldon Court Preparatory School Independent schools
Common questions
- What ages does Plume School teach?
- Plume School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Maldon.
- Who is the principal of Plume School?
- The principal of Plume School is Mr Tom Baster, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Plume School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Plume 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 Plume School?
- Plume School has 1,789 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Plume School full?
- Plume School has capacity for 1,841 pupils and 1,789 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Plume School a faith school?
- No. Plume School has no designated religious character.
- Is Plume School a selective school?
- No. Plume School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Plume School part of an academy trust?
- Plume School is part of PLUME SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Plume School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.6 in 2022/23 and 42.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Plume School compare with other schools in Essex?
- Plume School ranked 46th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Plume School's absence rate?
- Plume School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Plume School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Plume 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.