Shenfield High School
Alexander Lane, Shenfield, Brentwood, CM15 8RY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SHENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Miss Clare Costello
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Brentwood and Ongar
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,499
- Pupils on roll
- 1,528
- URN
- 137877
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01277219131
About this school
Shenfield High School is a secondary academy in Brentwood. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,528 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 24 April 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 242 | 237 | 233 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.9 | 43.2 | 45.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.25 -0.44 to -0.07 | -0.30 -0.48 to -0.11 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 37.6% | 40.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 60.3% | 63.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 7.2% | 13.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
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 Shenfield High 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 | 45.9 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.2 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.3 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,535 |
| 2023/24 | 1,493 |
| 2024/25 | 1,524 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Shenfield High School compares
Shenfield High School ranked 35th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.3 | 9% | 19.1% | 1,528 | — |
| St Martin's School Brentwood | 45.9 | 7.1% | 13.4% | 1,794 | 1.3 miles |
| Becket Keys Church of England Free School | 56 | 5% | 10.9% | 1,152 | 1.4 miles |
| Brentwood County High School | 43.2 | 7.9% | 25.4% | 1,097 | 1.8 miles |
| Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School | 61 | 5.2% | 12% | 991 | 1.8 miles |
| Anglo European School | 55.6 | 7.1% | 9.7% | 1,533 | 3.4 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)
- 19.1%
- English as an additional language
- 4.3%
- Overall absence
- 8.97%
- Persistent absence
- 23.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Martin's School Brentwood1.3 miles
Secondary · Brentwood
-
Becket Keys Church of England Free School1.4 miles
Secondary · Brentwood
-
Brentwood County High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Brentwood
-
Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Brentwood
-
Anglo European School3.4 miles
Secondary · Ingatestone
Other schools in Brentwood
Shenfield High School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Brentwood.
- Becket Keys Church of England Free School Secondary
- Brentwood County High School Secondary
- Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School Secondary
- St Martin's School Brentwood Secondary
- Bentley St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Doddinghurst Church of England Junior School Primary
- Doddinghurst Infant School Primary
- Hogarth Primary School Primary
- Holly Trees Primary School Primary
- Hutton All Saints' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ingrave Johnstone Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Shenfield High School teach?
- Shenfield High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Brentwood.
- Who is the headteacher of Shenfield High School?
- The headteacher of Shenfield High School is Miss Clare Costello, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Shenfield High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Shenfield High 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 Shenfield High School?
- Shenfield High School has 1,528 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Shenfield High School full?
- Shenfield High School has capacity for 1,499 pupils and 1,528 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 Shenfield High School a faith school?
- No. Shenfield High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Shenfield High School a selective school?
- No. Shenfield High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Shenfield High School?
- Shenfield High School is part of SHENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Shenfield High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.9 in 2022/23 and 45.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Shenfield High School rank locally?
- Shenfield High School ranked 35th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Shenfield High School's absence rate?
- Shenfield High School's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Shenfield High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Shenfield High 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.