Boys selective secondary school in Colchester, Essex
Colchester Royal Grammar School
Lexden Road, Colchester, CO3 3ND
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 14 April 2026.
Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.
Progress 8 2023/24
Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.
Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.
A levels 2024/25
- Average grade per entry
- A
- Average points per entry
- 51.3
- A level students
- 202
England average 32.3
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1073
- Places
- 777
- How full
- Full — 1073 pupils against 777 places
- Girls / boys
- 151 / 922
- Overall absence
- 5%
- Persistently absent
- 18%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 7%
- English as an additional language
- 11%
- With an EHC plan
- 0%
- On SEN support
- 7%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Colchester 013B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 57%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 7%
- Households owning their home
- 77%
- Households in social housing
- 3%
- Households with no car
- 13%
- Adults economically inactive
- 38%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–18
- Gender
- Boys
- Admissions
- Selective (entrance test)
- Religious character
- Christian
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- Trust
- THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: John Russell
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- New Town and Christ Church
- Constituency
- Colchester
- URN
- 149899
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester Prep & High SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.1 mi |
| St Mary's School for GirlsOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.4 mi |
| St Benedict's Catholic CollegeVoluntary aided school | Good 2023 | 54.7 | 0.5 mi |
| Colchester County High School for GirlsAcademy converter | Outstanding 2023 | 80.6 | 0.5 mi |
| St Helena SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2024 | 46 | 0.6 mi |
| Philip Morant School and CollegeAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 44.5 | 0.7 mi |
| Paxman AcademyFree schools | Good 2024 | 41.3 | 1.2 mi |
| The Thomas Lord Audley SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 42.3 | 1.4 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 50.1 |
| Archbishop Temple Church of England High SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 55.4 |
| Westcliff High School for GirlsAcademy converter | Outstanding 2024 | 75.6 |
| Ilkley Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 56.5 |
| West Kirby Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 71.3 |
| Ranelagh SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 53.4 |
| Bournemouth SchoolAcademy converter | Outstanding 2024 | 74.2 |
| Wirral Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 65.4 |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.