Hedingham School and Sixth Form

About Hedingham School and Sixth Form

Hedingham School and Sixth Form is a mixed state secondary in Braintree, Essex, and it’s a school that local families clearly want to get into. With 1,155 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,168, it’s running very close to full. The demand is real: for the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school received 348 applications for 206 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.69. Of those, 190 were first-preference applications, and 183 first-preference offers were made, meaning most who put it top got in, but it’s still competitive. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals sits at 15.1%, which is above the national average for secondary schools (around 13-14%) and suggests the school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage. That context matters when you look at its academic results, because the intake isn’t a privileged one.

Academically, Hedingham’s results are a mixed bag, and the data tells a nuanced story. At KS4, the school’s Progress 8 score is -0.27, which is below the local authority average of -0.18 and places it 45th out of 86 schools in Essex. That’s a below-average progress score nationally, ranking in the bottom third of all schools. The Attainment 8 score is 42.2, and 60.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though only 37.2% hit the stronger grade 5 threshold. EBacc entry is low at 16.5%, and just 9.6% achieved the full EBacc at grade 4 or above. At A-level, the picture is similar: a value-added score of -0.22, with a points per entry of 28.03 (roughly a C- grade). The best three A-levels averaged a C grade. The sixth form is small, with 55 pupils in the cohort, and its progress banding is rated ‘Below average’. So while the school is Good overall, its academic outcomes are modest compared with the strongest local grammars.

On the ground, Hedingham offers a solid range of facilities and activities. There’s a sports hall, swimming pool, astro turf, playing fields, music rooms, art studios, and a dedicated sixth form centre. Sports include gymnastics, football, netball, rugby, and martial arts, while clubs run the gamut from chess and drama to coding, Model UN, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The school also has a chapel, which is unusual for a non-religious state school. For SEND, the provision is broad, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. Admissions are handled by Essex County Council, and with 348 applications for 206 places, it’s oversubscribed but not wildly so. This is a school that suits families in the Braintree area who want a large, inclusive secondary with a good Ofsted rating, decent facilities, and a sixth form, but who are realistic about its academic profile compared to the top grammar schools in the region.

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