Southend High School for Girls

School overview

Southend High School for Girls is a girls' secondary school serving Southend-on-Sea, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 1,253 pupils aged 11 to 18 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Southend High School for Girls 'Outstanding'. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 75.0, well above the national average of 46. That is down 0.8 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it among the top 2% of secondary schools in England.

99% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well above the national average of about 45%. 100% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 59% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (271 first choices for 217 places). After Year 11, 99% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 5.6%. There are about 17.2 pupils per teacher. Its intake is relatively advantaged, with around 9% of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years versus about 24% nationally. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. 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.