Harwich and Dovercourt High School
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Essex
Hall Lane, Harwich, CO12 3TG
56
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 29/09/2021
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
89.2%
33.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,075
Capacity used
Has space83%
1,300 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
201 of 201 families who put it first got an offer
221
Places offered
229
Total applications
1.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 201 | 201 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 22 | 13 | ● 59% |
| 3rd preference | 1 | 1 | ● 100% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 5 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 229 | 215 | 94% |
1st preference success by year
Essex lets families list 6 preferences. Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Headteacher
- Simon Essex
- Address
- Hall Lane, Harwich, CO12 3TG
- Phone
- 01255245460
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward / constituency
- Dovercourt All Saints · Harwich and North Essex
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 145061
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 43% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 4% | — | — |
| SEN support | 16% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE SIGMA TRUST
1,075 pupils · 1,300 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
06 January 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
RSIInclusion Needs attention Achievement Urgent improvement Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Attendance and behaviour Needs attention Leadership and governance Needs attention Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention Post-16 provision Not applicable - 21
29 September 2021
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,127 pupils
Attendance
89.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
10.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
33.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.5%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 39.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.67 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 34% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 56% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.39 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 19.66 | — | — |
Average grade: D (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 37.6 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 27.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 44.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 20.9% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.19 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 215 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 20 | 35 |
| Average grade | D | — |
| A-level students | 14 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 216 | 8% | 32% | 48% | |
| Mathematics | 214 | 9% | 32% | 52% | |
| English Language | 214 | 14% | 39% | 55% | |
| Combined Science | 182 | 1% | 15% | 32% | |
| History | 127 | 9% | 29% | 39% | |
| Geography | 82 | 12% | 28% | 49% | |
| Art and Design | 81 | 6% | 33% | 60% | |
| French | 46 | 28% | 72% | 83% | |
| Biology | 32 | 28% | 72% | 84% | |
| Business | 32 | 3% | 9% | 19% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 31 | 6% | 29% | 45% | |
| Physics | 27 | 19% | 85% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art and Design | 7 | 0% | 14% | 29% | |
| Psychology | 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| English Literature | 6 | 0% | 0% | 17% | |
| History | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Geography | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Sociology | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Film Studies | 2 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 10673: Harwich and Dovercourt High School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 14% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 2% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 24% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Essex council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.