The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College
Secondary · Academy converter · Girls · Hertfordshire
Warwick Road, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 5NJ
90
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 14/11/2023
Application demand
70%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.5%
27.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,508
Capacity used
Over capacity111%
1,360 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
70%
1st preference success rate
161 of 231 families who put it first got an offer
186
Places offered
534
Total applications
2.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 231 | 161 | ● 70% |
| 2nd preference | 159 | 18 | ● 11% |
| 3rd preference | 101 | 6 | ● 6% |
| 4th preference | 43 | 1 | ● 2% |
| Total | 534 | 186 | 35% |
1st preference success by year
Hertfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 222 applications came from outside the council area (33 offered). 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 converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Richard Paul
- Address
- Warwick Road, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 5NJ
- Phone
- 01279654127
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Bishop's Stortford All Saints · Hertford and Stortford
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 140786
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 6% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 14% | — | — |
| SEN support | 5% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: HERTS & ESSEX MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
1,508 pupils · 1,360 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
14 November 2023
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 940 pupils
Attendance
92.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
27.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.4%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.1%
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 | 63.3 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.65 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 76% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 89% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.84 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 38.03 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 63.6 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 75.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 93.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 61.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.83 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 185 | — |
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 | 41 | 35 |
| Average grade | B | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 22.9% | 17% |
| A-level students | 243 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 185 | 42% | 77% | 95% | |
| English Language | 185 | 44% | 87% | 95% | |
| English Literature | 185 | 47% | 93% | 96% | |
| Combined Science | 133 | 23% | 69% | 89% | |
| History | 95 | 32% | 77% | 87% | |
| Business | 88 | 35% | 81% | 93% | |
| Drama | 81 | 47% | 95% | 99% | |
| Art and Design | 68 | 38% | 78% | 97% | |
| Geography | 66 | 44% | 79% | 92% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 55 | 47% | 93% | 98% | |
| Biology | 51 | 90% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 51 | 86% | 100% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 97 | 22% | 43% | 63% | |
| Psychology | 70 | 14% | 44% | 74% | |
| Biology | 52 | 21% | 46% | 71% | |
| Chemistry | 46 | 17% | 57% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 44 | 9% | 25% | 75% | |
| Economics | 41 | 7% | 37% | 73% | |
| History | 34 | 9% | 38% | 76% | |
| Physics | 30 | 17% | 40% | 60% | |
| Sociology | 30 | 10% | 37% | 83% | |
| Media / Film / TV Studies | 27 | 7% | 26% | 85% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 26 | 19% | 38% | 77% | |
| Drama and Theatre Studies | 25 | 0% | 16% | 64% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 11087: The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 16 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
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) | 69% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 70% | — | — |
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 Hertfordshire council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
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.