The Stanway School
Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SIGMA TRUST
- Co-Headteacher
- Mr Jonathan Bland
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Sigma Trust
- Constituency
- Witham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,400
- Pupils on roll
- 1,396
- URN
- 137927
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206575488
About this school
The Stanway School is a secondary academy in Colchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,396 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Stanway School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 7 June 2023, 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 | 282 | 279 | 272 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.4 | 47.3 | 48.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.13 -0.03 to +0.30 | +0.07 -0.10 to +0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 48% | 54.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 69.9% | 73.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 41% | 41.6% | 34.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 |
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 The Stanway 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 | 46.4 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.3 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.2 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,401 |
| 2023/24 | 1,394 |
| 2024/25 | 1,383 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Stanway School compares
The Stanway School ranked 23rd of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.2 | 7.4% | 14.7% | 1,396 | — |
| Philip Morant School and College | 44.5 | 7.7% | 26.3% | 1,888 | 1.4 miles |
| Paxman Academy | 41.3 | 8.2% | 32.6% | 873 | 1.4 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic College | 54.7 | 5.8% | 12.6% | 905 | 1.5 miles |
| Colchester County High School for Girls | 80.6 | 4.2% | 5% | 1,198 | 1.5 miles |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | 82.1 | 5.4% | 6.6% | 1,073 | 2.0 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)
- 14.68%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.4%
- Persistent absence
- 16.82%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Philip Morant School and College1.4 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Paxman Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
St Benedict's Catholic College1.5 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester County High School for Girls1.5 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester Royal Grammar School2.0 miles
Secondary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
The Stanway School ranks 5th 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
- Honywood 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 Thomas Lord Audley School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does The Stanway School teach?
- The Stanway School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Colchester.
- Who is the co-headteacher of The Stanway School?
- The co-headteacher of The Stanway School is Mr Jonathan Bland, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Stanway School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Stanway 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 The Stanway School?
- The Stanway School has 1,396 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Stanway School full?
- The Stanway School has capacity for 1,400 pupils and 1,396 on roll (100%), 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 The Stanway School a faith school?
- No. The Stanway School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Stanway School a selective school?
- No. The Stanway School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Stanway School part of an academy trust?
- The Stanway School is part of THE SIGMA TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Stanway School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.4 in 2022/23 and 48.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Stanway School compare with other schools in Essex?
- The Stanway School ranked 23rd of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Stanway School's absence rate?
- The Stanway School's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Stanway School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Stanway 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.