SF School Facts UK

Boys selective secondary school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea

Westcliff High School for Boys Academy

Kenilworth Gardens, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 0BP

Ofsted Outstanding · 2023 Selective Sixth form Boys Full
School website 01702475443

Ofsted

Outstandingas at 21 November 2023

Graded Outstanding at its last graded inspection, on 21 November 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

77.6 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

98% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

100% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

7.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

94% England 40.8%

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

0.93confidence interval 0.71 to 1.14

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
B+
Average points per entry
43.3

England average 32.3

A level students
195

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1309
Places
1300
How full
Full — 1309 pupils against 1300 places
Girls / boys
87 / 1222
Overall absence
4%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
7%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
8%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
18%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
0%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
3%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
99%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
99%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
97%
No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
180

After sixth form

Went to university
70%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
183

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

65% 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
85%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
166

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 Southend-on-Sea 005A, 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
21%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
27%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
43%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
42%

England 17%

Households with no car
26%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
45%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Boys
Admissions
Selective (entrance test)
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
WESTCLIFF HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS LIMITED
Headteacher
Headmaster: Michael Skelly
Local authority
Southend-on-Sea
Ward
Blenheim Park
Constituency
Southend West and Leigh
URN
136272

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Westcliff High School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 75.6 0.1 mi
St Thomas More High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 52.3 0.2 mi
The Eastwood AcademyAcademy converter No grade 51.6 0.8 mi
Chase High SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 39.2 0.9 mi
Southend High School for BoysAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 73.8 1.1 mi
Belfairs AcademyAcademy converter Requires improvement 2024 45.5 1.2 mi
St Bernard's High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 54.9 1.6 mi
Cecil Jones AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 35.1 2.8 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
Southend High School for BoysAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 73.8
Skipton Girls' High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 69.7
St Bede's Catholic CollegeAcademy converter No grade 57.1
The Skinners' SchoolAcademy converter No grade 70.8
Fitzharrys SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 46
Tanbridge House SchoolCommunity school Outstanding 2024 54.2
Southend High School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 75
Dame Alice Owen's SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 72.9

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.