Passmores Academy

About Passmores Academy

Passmores Academy is a mixed, non-selective secondary school in Harlow, Essex, overseen by headteacher Natalie Christie. Within the local authority, it ranks 64th out of 86 same-type schools on Progress 8, placing it in the bottom half of the county. For context, the top-performing peers in Essex are selective grammar schools like King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, and Colchester Royal Grammar School, which achieve Progress 8 scores above +1.0 — a very different academic profile. Passmores is a genuinely comprehensive 11-16 school with no sixth form, and its intake reflects the community: 28.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The school is heavily oversubscribed for Year 7 entry in 2025/26, receiving 610 applications for 225 places, with 218 offers going to first-preference families. That level of demand suggests strong local confidence, even if the school’s raw academic rankings don’t place it among the county’s elite.

Academically, Passmores’ results are below the Essex average. Its Progress 8 score of -0.67 is significantly lower than the LA average of -0.18, and the Department for Education bands it as ‘well below average’. Pupils achieve an Attainment 8 score of 37.6, and just 24.5% secure a grade 5 or above in both English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is low at 15%, and only 4.3% achieve the full EBacc at grade 5 or higher. Progress is weakest in the EBacc subjects (-0.96) and in maths (-0.62), while English is slightly less negative at -0.69. In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2018, the school was rated Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. A subsequent ungraded inspection in February 2024 confirmed the school remains Good. The previous graded inspection in 2013 also rated it Good, so the school has maintained a consistent standard over time.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, theatre, and music rooms, and runs clubs from Model UN and Young Enterprise to choir and eco club. Sports provision is extensive, with rowing, martial arts, and dance alongside traditional team sports. SEND support covers eight categories, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health difficulties. With no sixth form, pupils must transfer elsewhere after Year 11. The school is clearly popular locally — oversubscribed by a ratio of 2.71 to 1 — and suits families who value a well-equipped, inclusive community school with strong pastoral and extracurricular breadth, even if its academic outcomes sit below the county average.

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