St Helena School
Sheepen Road, Colchester, CO3 3LE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SIGMA TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Serena Kay
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Sigma Trust
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,000
- Pupils on roll
- 986
- URN
- 137944
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206572253
About this school
St Helena School is a secondary academy in Colchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 986 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Helena 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
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
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 190 | 196 | 204 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.2 | 41.6 | 46.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.18 -0.40 to +0.03 | -0.31 -0.52 to -0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 32.1% | 36.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 56.1% | 60.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22% | 20.9% | 41.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.5 | 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 St Helena 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 | 42.2 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.6 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 994 |
| 2023/24 | 995 |
| 2024/25 | 987 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Helena School compares
St Helena School ranked 31st of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 61% 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 | 46 | 8% | 31.3% | 986 | — |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | 82.1 | 5.4% | 6.6% | 1,073 | 0.6 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic College | 54.7 | 5.8% | 12.6% | 905 | 0.9 miles |
| Colchester County High School for Girls | 80.6 | 4.2% | 5% | 1,198 | 0.9 miles |
| Philip Morant School and College | 44.5 | 7.7% | 26.3% | 1,888 | 1.2 miles |
| Paxman Academy | 41.3 | 8.2% | 32.6% | 873 | 1.8 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)
- 31.31%
- English as an additional language
- 19%
- Overall absence
- 8.04%
- Persistent absence
- 20.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Colchester Royal Grammar School0.6 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
St Benedict's Catholic College0.9 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester County High School for Girls0.9 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Philip Morant School and College1.2 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Paxman Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
St Helena School ranks 8th 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
- The Gilberd School Secondary
- The Stanway School Secondary
- The Thomas Lord Audley School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does St Helena School teach?
- St Helena School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Colchester.
- Who is the headteacher of St Helena School?
- The headteacher of St Helena School is Mrs Serena Kay, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Helena School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Helena 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 St Helena School?
- St Helena School has 986 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Helena School full?
- St Helena School has capacity for 1,000 pupils and 986 on roll (99%), 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 St Helena School a faith school?
- No. St Helena School has no designated religious character.
- Is St Helena School a selective school?
- No. St Helena School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is St Helena School part of an academy trust?
- St Helena 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 St Helena School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.2 in 2022/23 and 46 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Helena School compare with other schools in Essex?
- St Helena School ranked 31st of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 61% 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 St Helena School's absence rate?
- St Helena School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Helena School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Helena 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.