The Ramsey Academy, Halstead
Colne Road, Halstead, CO9 2HR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BRIDGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Christian Appleford
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Bridge Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Braintree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 702
- URN
- 139248
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01787472481
About this school
The Ramsey Academy, Halstead is a secondary academy in Halstead. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 702 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Ramsey Academy, Halstead, 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 147 | 152 | 150 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.8 | 44.3 | 39.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.39 -0.62 to -0.16 | -0.05 -0.28 to +0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 42.8% | 29.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 61.2% | 54% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 28.9% | 18.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.4 |
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 Ramsey Academy, Halstead 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 | 39.8 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.3 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.3 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 783 |
| 2023/24 | 774 |
| 2024/25 | 744 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Ramsey Academy, Halstead compares
The Ramsey Academy, Halstead ranked 59th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.3 | 9.3% | 24.9% | 702 | — |
| Hedingham School and Sixth Form | 39.9 | 10.4% | 16% | 1,177 | 3.6 miles |
| Honywood School | 46.3 | 9.2% | 20.5% | 849 | 5.1 miles |
| Alec Hunter Academy | 45.7 | 6.2% | 20.1% | 1,058 | 6.0 miles |
| Tabor Academy | 38.5 | 11.7% | 31.4% | 989 | 6.2 miles |
| Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form | 44.9 | 9.6% | 19.8% | 1,210 | 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)
- 24.87%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.29%
- Persistent absence
- 26.68%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hedingham School and Sixth Form3.6 miles
Secondary · Halstead
-
Honywood School5.1 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Alec Hunter Academy6.0 miles
Secondary · Braintree
-
Tabor Academy6.2 miles
Secondary · Braintree
-
Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form6.9 miles
Secondary · Braintree
Other schools in Halstead
- Hedingham School and Sixth Form Secondary
- de Vere Primary School Primary
- Gosfield Community Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Halstead Primary
- Richard de Clare Community Academy Primary
- Ridgewell Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Great Yeldham Primary
- St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Halstead Primary
- St Giles' Church of England Primary School Primary
- St John the Baptist Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Pebmarsh Primary
- St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Toppesfield Primary
- St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Sible Hedingham Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Ramsey Academy, Halstead teach?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Halstead.
- Who is the headteacher of The Ramsey Academy, Halstead?
- The headteacher of The Ramsey Academy, Halstead is Mr Christian Appleford, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Ramsey Academy, Halstead been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Ramsey Academy, Halstead, 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 Ramsey Academy, Halstead?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead has 702 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Ramsey Academy, Halstead full?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead has capacity for 750 pupils and 702 on roll (94%), 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 The Ramsey Academy, Halstead a faith school?
- No. The Ramsey Academy, Halstead has no designated religious character.
- Is The Ramsey Academy, Halstead a selective school?
- No. The Ramsey Academy, Halstead is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Ramsey Academy, Halstead part of an academy trust?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead is part of BRIDGE ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Ramsey Academy, Halstead's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.8 in 2022/23 and 39.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Ramsey Academy, Halstead compare with other schools in Essex?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead ranked 59th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% 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 Ramsey Academy, Halstead's absence rate?
- The Ramsey Academy, Halstead's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Ramsey Academy, Halstead's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Ramsey Academy, Halstead'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.