SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Harwich, Essex

Harwich and Dovercourt High School

Hall Lane, Harwich, Essex, CO12 3TG

School website 01255245460

Ofsted

Judged to require significant improvement, on 6 January 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.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

37.6 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

28% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

44% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.2 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

21% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.67confidence interval -0.87 to -0.47

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well below 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
D
Average points per entry
20

England average 32.3

A level students
14

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1075
Places
1300
How full
83% full — 1075 of 1300 places taken
Girls / boys
532 / 543
Overall absence
11%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
33%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
43%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
4%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
19%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
86%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
80%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
23%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
213

After sixth form

Went to university
15%

England 50%

In education, work or training
54%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
39

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

0% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
27%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
33

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Tendring 002C, 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
14%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
28%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
52%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
27%

England 17%

Households with no car
31%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
49%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
THE SIGMA TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Simon Essex
Local authority
Essex
Ward
Dovercourt All Saints
Constituency
Harwich and North Essex
URN
145061

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Felixstowe SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 38.5 4.2 mi
Royal Hospital SchoolOther independent school No grade 5.6 mi
Orwell Park SchoolOther independent school No grade 5.8 mi
Ipswich High SchoolOther independent school No grade 5.8 mi
Lift TendringAcademy converter Good 2024 36.9 6 mi
Holbrook AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 41.2 6.1 mi
Ipswich AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 37.6 7.7 mi
Stoke High School - Ormiston AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 34.3 9.2 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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
St Michael's Church of England High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 48.9
Beacon Hill Community SchoolCommunity school No grade 28.8
Bristol Brunel AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 43.6
De Lacy AcademyAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 45.6
Dixons McMillan AcademyFree schools Good 2023 47.3
Ursuline CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 36.1
Stockport AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 47
Meadowhead School Academy TrustAcademy converter Good 2022 46

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.