St John Payne Catholic School, Chelmsford

About St John Payne Catholic School, Chelmsford

St John Payne Catholic School, Chelmsford is a secondary school in Chelmsford, Essex, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Roman Catholic religious character. Around 1,210 pupils aged 11 to 18 attend the school. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 49.9, above the national average of 46. Results have held broadly steady on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 29% of secondary schools nationally.

51% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, above the national average of about 45%. 76% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 71% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (187 first choices for 182 places). After Year 11, 97% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 6.7%. There are about 18.8 pupils per teacher. St John Payne Catholic School, Chelmsford does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.