Harwich and Dovercourt High School
Hall Lane, Harwich, CO12 3TG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SIGMA TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Simon Essex
- Sponsor
- The Sigma Trust
- Constituency
- Harwich and North Essex
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,300
- Pupils on roll
- 1,075
- URN
- 145061
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01255245460
About this school
Harwich and Dovercourt High School is a secondary academy in Harwich. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,075 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Urgent improvement
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: requires significant improvement.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 213 | 205 | 215 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.2 | 39.3 | 37.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.68 -0.88 to -0.49 | -0.67 -0.87 to -0.47 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 34.1% | 27.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42% | 55.6% | 44.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 10% | 21.5% | 20.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
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 Harwich and Dovercourt 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 | 36.2 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.3 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.6 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,133 |
| 2023/24 | 1,101 |
| 2024/25 | 1,091 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Harwich and Dovercourt High School compares
Harwich and Dovercourt High School ranked 67th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.6 | 10.9% | 42.5% | 1,075 | — |
| Felixstowe School | 38.5 | 12.1% | 26.9% | 1,169 | 4.2 miles |
| Lift Tendring | 36.9 | 14.2% | 30.3% | 1,464 | 6.0 miles |
| Holbrook Academy | 41.2 | 8.4% | 23.6% | 584 | 6.1 miles |
| Ipswich Academy | 37.6 | 11.7% | 39.8% | 981 | 7.7 miles |
| Manningtree High School | 48.6 | 9% | 14.4% | 908 | 8.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 January 2026
- 29 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.5%
- English as an additional language
- 3.9%
- Overall absence
- 10.85%
- Persistent absence
- 33.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Felixstowe School4.2 miles
Secondary · Felixstowe
-
Lift Tendring6.0 miles
Secondary · Frinton-on-Sea
-
Holbrook Academy6.1 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Ipswich Academy7.7 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Manningtree High School8.9 miles
Secondary · Manningtree
Other schools in Harwich
- All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Great Oakley Primary
- All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Dovercourt Primary
- Chase Lane Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Harwich Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Spring Meadow Primary School & Nursery Primary
- St Michael's CofE Primary Academy, Ramsey Primary
- The Mayflower Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Harwich and Dovercourt High School teach?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Harwich.
- Who is the headteacher of Harwich and Dovercourt High School?
- The headteacher of Harwich and Dovercourt High School is Mr Simon Essex, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Harwich and Dovercourt High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Harwich and Dovercourt 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 Harwich and Dovercourt High School?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High School has 1,075 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Harwich and Dovercourt High School full?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High School has capacity for 1,300 pupils and 1,075 on roll (83%), 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 Harwich and Dovercourt High School a faith school?
- No. Harwich and Dovercourt High School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Harwich and Dovercourt High School?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High 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 Harwich and Dovercourt High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.2 in 2022/23 and 37.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Harwich and Dovercourt High School rank locally?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High School ranked 67th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Harwich and Dovercourt High School's absence rate?
- Harwich and Dovercourt High School's overall absence rate is 10.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Harwich and Dovercourt High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Harwich and Dovercourt 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 10 July 2026.