Paxman Academy
Paxman Avenue, Colchester, CO2 9DB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SIGMA TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Debbie Kershaw
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Sigma Trust
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 873
- URN
- 147080
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01206413813
About this school
Paxman Academy is a secondary academy in Colchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 873 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. 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 184 | 175 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.4 | 41.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.38 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41.3% | 34.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59.2% | 48.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 48.9% | 17.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 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 Paxman Academy 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 | — | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.4 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.3 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 697 |
| 2023/24 | 895 |
| 2024/25 | 886 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Paxman Academy compares
Paxman Academy ranked 53rd of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.3 | 8.2% | 32.6% | 873 | — |
| Philip Morant School and College | 44.5 | 7.7% | 26.3% | 1,888 | 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 |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | 82.1 | 5.4% | 6.6% | 1,073 | 1.2 miles |
| The Stanway School | 48.2 | 7.4% | 14.7% | 1,396 | 1.4 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)
- 32.62%
- English as an additional language
- 15.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.22%
- Persistent absence
- 21.82%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Philip Morant School and College0.6 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
St Benedict's Catholic College0.9 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester County High School for Girls0.9 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
Colchester Royal Grammar School1.2 miles
Secondary · Colchester
-
The Stanway School1.4 miles
Secondary · Colchester
Other schools in Colchester
Paxman Academy ranks 13th 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
- Philip Morant School and College Secondary
- St Benedict's Catholic College Secondary
- St Helena School Secondary
- The Gilberd School Secondary
- The Stanway School Secondary
- The Thomas Lord Audley School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Paxman Academy teach?
- Paxman Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Colchester.
- Who is the headteacher of Paxman Academy?
- The headteacher of Paxman Academy is Mrs Debbie Kershaw, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Paxman Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Paxman Academy, 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 Paxman Academy?
- Paxman Academy has 873 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Paxman Academy full?
- Paxman Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 873 on roll (97%), 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 Paxman Academy a faith school?
- No. Paxman Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Paxman Academy a selective school?
- No. Paxman Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Paxman Academy?
- Paxman Academy 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 Paxman Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.4 in 2023/24 and 41.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Paxman Academy rank locally?
- Paxman Academy ranked 53rd of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Paxman Academy's absence rate?
- Paxman Academy's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Paxman Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Paxman Academy'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 2 July 2026.