St Edward's Church of England Academy

St Edward's Church of England Academy is a Church of England secondary school within the Unity Schools Partnership, serving a community with above-average location deprivation and a free school meal proportion close to the national average. The school is performing well overall: attendance and behaviour and personal development are strong, safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are happy, respectful and well supported. Leaders’ work on attendance, including rigorous tracking and tenacious follow-up, is a notable strength, with attendance above national averages and particularly strong for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Outcomes are broadly in line with expectations. Pupils achieve in line with national averages at key stage 4, disadvantaged pupils generally achieve above national averages, and pupils with SEND make suitable progress. However, teaching is not yet consistently highly effective: in some lessons questioning is not precise enough, pupils are not always given enough opportunity to sustain writing and develop ideas to the highest standard, and writing can lack depth. Post-16 A-level results are below average, although students make steady progress and almost all move on to suitable education, employment or training, including competitive universities. Inclusion and leadership are secure. The school identifies additional needs early, supports vulnerable pupils well, uses pupil premium effectively, and has knowledgeable governors with effective trust support. The next steps are to embed highly effective teaching consistently, improve the quality of writing across the school including the sixth form, and sharpen leaders’ use of information so improvement actions are fully embedded.

Strengths

• Rigorous attendance tracking and tenacious first-day absence follow-up
• Attendance above national average, notably for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Positive pupil behaviour and respectful relationships across the school
• Strong personal development curriculum tailored to pupils’ context
• Comprehensive PSHE and relationships, sex and health education
• Effective careers education from Year 7 with meaningful work experience in Years 10 and 12
• Inclusive culture with early identification of SEND and vulnerable pupils
• Effective use of pupil premium to support disadvantaged pupils
• Strong support for pupils with SEND to access the curriculum
• Knowledgeable governors who meet statutory responsibilities and challenge leaders
• Trust support contributing to improvement across the school
• Staff feel valued and well supported, with manageable workload for most
• Sixth-form students act as mature role models and contribute to the wider school community
• Almost all students secure sustained education, employment or training destinations
• Safeguarding standards met with an open culture of safeguarding
• Wide range of enrichment, clubs and cultural experiences, including annual museum visits
• Church of England ethos underpins a strong sense of community and belonging

Areas for Improvement

• Highly effective teaching is not consistently embedded across the school
• Teachers sometimes ask questions that are not precise enough to develop pupils’ reasoning
• Some lessons provide insufficient opportunities for pupils to sustain writing and develop ideas fully
• Pupils’ writing sometimes lacks depth, including in the sixth form
• Post-16 A-level outcomes are below national averages
• Some aspects of leaders’ evaluation could be sharper so improvement actions are fully embedded

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 St Edward's Church of England Academy attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.9% 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, 0.0% of pupils at St Edward's Church of England Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 St Edward's Church of England Academy had 17.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.4% 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, 14.8% of pupils at St Edward's Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.6% 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 St Edward's Church of England Academy received £8,875 and spent £8,807 for each of its 848 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £259,000 (£305 per pupil).

Across all 39 schools of Unity Schools Partnership, income was £8,494 and spending £8,500 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 Havering · Havering local authority: places and applications

St Edward's Church of England Academy is part of Unity Schools Partnership, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• The Compass School Romford
• Steeple Bumpstead Primary School Haverhill
• Clements Primary Academy Haverhill
• Burton End Primary Academy Haverhill
• Place Farm Primary Academy Haverhill
• Churchill Special Free School Haverhill
• Castle Manor Academy Haverhill
• Coupals Primary Academy Haverhill
• Westfield Primary Academy Haverhill
• Samuel Ward Academy Haverhill

What is St Edward's Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Edward's Church of England Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St Edward's Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Edward's Church of England Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St Edward's Church of England Academy have?

St Edward's Church of England Academy has 918 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Edward's Church of England Academy cover?

St Edward's Church of England Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Edward's Church of England Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.4, and 45% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Edward's Church of England Academy?

St Edward's Church of England Academy is at London Road, Romford, Essex, RM7 9NX.