Hylands School

Hylands School has been judged to require special measures. Inspectors found that it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and those responsible for leading, managing or governing it are not showing the capacity to secure the necessary improvement. Safeguarding standards are met, and there are real positives: behaviour is generally calm, bullying is rare, pastoral care supports wellbeing, attendance work is starting to have an impact, and pupils value the small school community. However, achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance all require urgent improvement, while attendance, behaviour, personal development and wellbeing are not yet at the expected standard. The school serves a community with high levels of deprivation, including well above-average free school meals and above-average SEN support, and many pupils join at different points in the year. Pupils significantly underperform over a sustained period, especially disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Teaching is not consistently adapted to pupils' needs, systems for checking what pupils have learned are weak, and gaps in literacy and numeracy are not addressed well enough. Governance has not challenged or supported leaders effectively, pupil premium impact is not monitored, and leaders have been overgenerous in evaluating the school's work. Personal development, careers and enrichment are underdeveloped, and too many disadvantaged pupils miss wider opportunities or leave without clear pathways. The report notes significant recent leadership change (a new headteacher in 2024 and a new CEO in 2025), early external support, and that it is too early to see impact. The school is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, has a registered sixth form with no pupils currently on roll, and uses five alternative provisions, two of which are unregistered. Next steps focus on stronger governance and oversight, more ambitious and adapted teaching, better SEND and pupil premium evaluation, improved foundational skills, attendance, careers and enrichment.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils feeling safe.
• Leaders have taken robust action on historically low attendance, and some pupils now attend more regularly.
• Clear behaviour expectations and routines create a calm and orderly start to lessons.
• The school is generally calm and settled, and pupils usually treat each other with respect.
• Bullying and unkind behaviour are rare and are addressed promptly by staff.
• Pupils who need extra help managing emotions receive appropriate care and have trusted adults.
• Pastoral support helps many pupils feel well cared for and supports their wellbeing.
• Pupils typically have positive relationships with staff and peers.
• Pupils value the small school and the strong friendships they build.
• Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online and offline risks.
• Age-appropriate relationships, sex and health education is taught.
• The curriculum includes opportunities for pupils to build social skills, cooperate and learn about their community.
• Leaders are considerate of staff workload and wellbeing.
• Staff value the professional learning programme introduced by leaders.
• Alternative provision placements are supported appropriately and checked to meet pupils' needs.
• External support is beginning to strengthen leaders' work, including on attendance.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
• Leaders, managers and governors are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement.
• Governance has not fulfilled its role effectively, providing insufficient challenge and support.
• Trustees have not intervened promptly when strategies failed to improve pupil outcomes.
• Leaders' overgenerous evaluation of the school has hindered focus on the most urgent issues.
• Achievement is in urgent improvement; pupils significantly underperform and do worse than similar pupils nationally.
• GCSE attainment remains significantly below national averages, and improvements are not equitable.
• Disadvantaged pupils perform markedly less well than peers, and the gap is widening.
• Many pupils do not obtain the qualifications needed to move on to further education or training.
• Curriculum and teaching are in urgent improvement, and improvement work is at an early stage.
• Many pupils do not benefit from an ambitious curriculum.
• Teachers' subject knowledge and understanding of how to meet pupils' needs are often underdeveloped.
• The school lacks effective systems to identify missed or forgotten learning.
• Teachers do not have a secure understanding of pupils' starting points.
• Pupils' eagerness to learn wanes, and they produce work of a low standard.
• Teaching is not adapted well enough for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Gaps in pupils' literacy and numeracy are not addressed well enough.
• Inclusion is in urgent improvement, and leaders' inclusive practices are at an early stage.
• Staff lack the expertise needed to meet pupils' SEND needs effectively.
• Leaders do not check carefully enough on the impact of support for the most vulnerable pupils.
• Too many pupils with SEND struggle to access the curriculum and do not make enough progress.
• Leaders do not monitor the impact of pupil premium funding on raising achievement.
• Leaders cannot be sure whether interventions for disadvantaged pupils are helping them catch up.
• Attendance remains too low, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Persistent absence remains above national averages.
• Pupils are not always fully engaged in lessons, particularly when teaching is less effective.
• Personal development and wellbeing need attention, and the impact of this work is variable.
• Not all pupils develop the confidence, resilience and broader awareness they need.
• Participation in enrichment opportunities is too low, especially for disadvantaged pupils.
• Opportunities for leadership, responsibility and wider confidence remain limited.
• Careers education, information, advice and guidance are not yet sufficiently ambitious or well developed.
• Too few pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, develop high aspirations or understand the full range of pathways.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils staying in suitable education, employment or training remains low.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Hylands School attended 87.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 34.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 16.1% of pupils at Hylands School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Hylands School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.1% of pupils at Hylands School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Hylands School received £8,340 and spent £8,887 for each of its 641 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £288,000 (£449 per pupil).

Across all 45 schools of The Kemnal Academies Trust, income was £8,501 and spending £8,452 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Chelmsford · Essex local authority: places and applications

Hylands School is part of The Kemnal Academies Trust, which runs 45 schools. The nearest others:

• Maldon Primary School Maldon
• Heybridge Primary School Maldon
• Stapleford Abbotts Primary Academy Romford
• Debden Park High School Loughton
• King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy Waltham Abbey
• Shenstone School Crayford
• Welling School Welling
• East Wickham Primary Academy Welling
• Willow Brook Primary School and Nursery Colchester
• Napier Community Primary and Nursery Academy Gillingham

What is Hylands School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hylands School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Hylands School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hylands School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Hylands School have?

Hylands School has 614 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hylands School cover?

Hylands School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Hylands School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.3, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Hylands School?

Hylands School is at Chelmsford Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3ET.