1
Southend High School for Girls
Southend-on-Sea • Essex • SS2 4UZ
1
9 Sep 2024
Top 10 Secondary schools in Essex
Updated for the latest inspections (median graded year: 2022)
This Top 10 showcases secondary schools in the county of Essex. It’s built from the latest graded Ofsted inspections. We rank Outstanding (grade 1) above Good (grade 2), then prioritise newer inspections. As tie-breakers, we consider the “Quality of education” sub-judgement (where available), then %FSM and school size.
Total secondary schools
134
Outstanding
23
Good
86
Median inspection year
2022
Ofsted grade mix (graded schools)
O: 18% · G: 68% · RI: 13% · I: 1%
2
Southend High School for Boys
Southend-on-Sea • Essex • SS0 0RG
1
10 Jul 2024
3
Jo Richardson Community School
Dagenham • Essex • RM9 4UN
1
20 Jun 2024
4
The Warren School
Romford • Essex • RM6 6SB
1
16 Jun 2024
5
All Saints Catholic School and Technology College
Dagenham • Essex • RM8 1JT
1
13 Jun 2024
6
Saffron Walden County High School
Saffron Walden • Essex • CB11 4UH
1
13 May 2024
7
Harris Academy Chafford Hundred
Grays • Essex • RM16 6SA
1
8 May 2024
8
Westcliff High School for Girls
Westcliff-on-Sea • Essex • SS0 0BS
1
19 Mar 2024
9
Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College
Barking • Essex • IG11 9AG
1
4 Mar 2024
10
Chelmsford County High School for Girls
Chelmsford • Essex • CM1 1RW
1
15 Feb 2024
How we rank these schools
- Headline Ofsted grade: Outstanding (1) outranks Good (2), then RI (3), then Inadequate (4).
- More recent graded inspection dates rank higher.
- Where available, we use the Quality of education sub-judgement as a tie-breaker.
- Lower free school meals (%) may break remaining ties.
- Larger roll (pupil count) is a final tie-breaker.
Only the ten highest-ranked schools are shown; we also list “near misses” just below.
About Ofsted grades
- Outstanding (1): Highest judgement across key areas.
- Good (2): Strong effectiveness; meets standards consistently.
- Requires improvement (3): Not yet good; clear areas to improve.
- Inadequate (4): Significant weaknesses found.
Ungraded Section 8 visits check whether the previous graded judgement still stands, but they don’t replace it.
Data freshness & coverage
We refresh inspections and school snapshots regularly. If a school was inspected very recently, its report may not yet appear here.
Top-10 pages only appear for areas with at least 10 secondary schools that have a graded Ofsted inspection.
Map of the Top 10
Also highly rated nearby
- Colchester County High School for Girls 1 • Jan 2024
- Westcliff High School for Boys Academy 1 • Jan 2024
- Hall Mead School 1 • Nov 2023
- Woodbridge High School 1 • Apr 2023
- Redden Court School 1 • Nov 2022
- Riverside School 1 • Nov 2022
- King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford 1 • Jan 2022
- Valentines High School 1 • Nov 2021
- The Eastwood Academy 1 • Jan 2019
- The Gilberd School 1 • Jan 2019