Hillhouse CofE Primary School

About Hillhouse CofE Primary School

Hillhouse CofE Primary School in Epping Forest was rated Good in its most recent graded Ofsted inspection, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2013. The school’s most informative exam metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which stood at 57% in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure is five percentage points below the Essex local authority average of 62%, placing Hillhouse 249th out of 444 primary schools in the county. Within Epping Forest specifically, the school ranks 18th out of 30 schools on this measure, putting it in the bottom half of the borough. The Ofsted report noted that leadership and management, as well as early years provision, are both Good, and the school has maintained its Good rating through a subsequent ungraded inspection in 2022.

Breaking down the Key Stage 2 results further, reading and writing are relative strengths: 70% of pupils met the expected standard in reading and 75% in writing, while maths lagged slightly at 73%. At the higher standard, 18% achieved above the expected level in reading, 9% in writing and 7% in maths, with just 2% reaching the higher threshold across all three subjects. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 102 in maths, both in line with national averages. The school does not publish Progress 8 data, so it is not possible to say how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points. Nationally, Hillhouse sits in the bottom 50% of primary schools, ranking 8,751st out of 13,686 schools on the combined expected standard measure. For context, the top-performing schools in the local authority, such as Stambridge Primary School and St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School, achieved a perfect ranking score of 100.

Hillhouse is a Church of England primary school for 4 to 11 year olds, with a current roll of 331 pupils against a capacity of 345. It is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, there were 119 applications for 58 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.05, and all 54 first-preference applicants were offered a place. The school serves a relatively disadvantaged cohort, with 21.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a gymnasium, sensory room, forest school, chapel, art studios, music rooms and an ICT suite. Sports offered include dance, athletics, swimming, gymnastics and cricket, while clubs range from coding and chess to film club, drama, art club and choir. The school’s SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. This is a solid, improving local option for families who value a church school with a broad range of enrichment activities, though those prioritising top-tier academic outcomes may want to look at higher-ranked peers in the borough.

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