Helena Romanes School
Parsonage Downs, Great Dunmow, CM6 2AU
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- SAFFRON ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Catherine Davis
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Saffron Academy Trust
- Constituency
- North West Essex
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,593
- Pupils on roll
- 1,265
- URN
- 137975
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01371872560
About this school
Helena Romanes School is an all-through academy in Great Dunmow. It teaches children aged 4 to 18 and has 1,265 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Helena Romanes 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
- Early years
- 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 | 226 | 177 | 212 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.1 | 42.1 | 46.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.49 to -0.11 | -0.38 -0.59 to -0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 35% | 49.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 64.4% | 70.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 36% | 37.9% | 34.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
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 Helena Romanes 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 | 45.1 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.1 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.6 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,264 |
| 2023/24 | 1,287 |
| 2024/25 | 1,309 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Helena Romanes School compares
Helena Romanes School ranked 27th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.6 | 10.3% | 19.3% | 1,265 | — |
| The Beaulieu Park School | 57.1 | 7% | 12.9% | 1,763 | 10.4 miles |
| Great Dunmow Primary School | — | 4.1% | 8.6% | 421 | 0.6 miles |
| Dunmow St Mary's Primary School | — | 5.2% | 18.4% | 459 | 0.7 miles |
| Cambian Great Dunmow School | — | — | 0% | 15 | 1.1 miles |
| Great Easton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | — | 7.2% | 13.3% | 147 | 1.9 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)
- 19.27%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.34%
- Persistent absence
- 29.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Beaulieu Park School10.4 miles
All-through · Chelmsford
-
Great Dunmow Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Great Dunmow
-
Dunmow St Mary's Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Dunmow
-
Cambian Great Dunmow School1.1 miles
Special schools · Essex
-
Great Easton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School1.9 miles
Primary · Dunmow
Other schools in Great Dunmow
- Great Dunmow Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Helena Romanes School teach?
- Helena Romanes School teaches children aged 4 to 18. It is an all-through school in Great Dunmow.
- Who is the headteacher of Helena Romanes School?
- The headteacher of Helena Romanes School is Ms Catherine Davis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Helena Romanes School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Helena Romanes 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 Helena Romanes School?
- Helena Romanes School has 1,265 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 18.
- Is Helena Romanes School full?
- Helena Romanes School has capacity for 1,593 pupils and 1,265 on roll (79%), 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 Helena Romanes School a faith school?
- No. Helena Romanes School has no designated religious character.
- Is Helena Romanes School a selective school?
- No. Helena Romanes School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does Helena Romanes School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Helena Romanes School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Helena Romanes School part of an academy trust?
- Helena Romanes School is part of SAFFRON ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Helena Romanes School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.1 in 2022/23 and 46.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Helena Romanes School compare with other schools in Essex?
- Helena Romanes School ranked 27th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Helena Romanes School's absence rate?
- Helena Romanes School's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Helena Romanes School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Helena Romanes 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.