SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Harlow, Essex

Mark Hall Academy

First Avenue, Harlow, CM17 9LR

School website 01279866280

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 4 March 2025.

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

38.9 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

30% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

54% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.1 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

14% 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 lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.82confidence interval -1.05 to -0.59

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.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
867
Places
1080
How full
80% full — 867 of 1080 places taken
Girls / boys
440 / 427
Overall absence
10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
32%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
31%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
14%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
15%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
92%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
86%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
14%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
164

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Harlow 001F, 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
34%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
18%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
68%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
24%

England 17%

Households with no car
14%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

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
BMAT EDUCATION
Headteacher
Headteacher: Michael Yerosimou
Local authority
Essex
Ward
Church Langley North & Newhall
Constituency
Harlow
URN
148423

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Saint Nicholas SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.9 mi
Burnt Mill AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 45.2 1 mi
Bmat Stem AcademyUniversity technical college Good 2023 28.1 1.5 mi
Passmores AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 34.8 1.5 mi
St Mark's West Essex Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 46.3 1.5 mi
Sir Frederick Gibberd CollegeFree schools No grade 44 1.9 mi
Stewards Academy - Science Specialist, HarlowAcademy converter Requires improvement 2024 38.9 2.5 mi
LeventhorpeAcademy converter Good 2024 49.6 3 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
Thomas Deacon AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 39.1
Kingsbury High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 47.3
Cleeve Park SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 39.7
The Warren SchoolAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2024 47.6
Rugby Free Secondary SchoolFree schools No grade 43.7
The Whitehaven AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 39.7
King Edward VI Lordswood School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2024 56.8
George Eliot AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 45.8

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.