Plume School

Academy converter·Secondary school Maldon, Essex·CM9 6AB
Composite score
53.6
Compare Plume School with another school
#2,078
National rank
#227
In East of England
#45
In Essex
Top 65%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
42.9
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
37%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
60%
% EBacc grade 5+
6%
EBacc average points score
3.57

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
274 first choices, 288 places
First choices per place
0.95
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
562
any preference, for 288 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.02
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0020221.0920231.0320240.9320250.952026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Plume School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
1,786
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
26.4%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
3.4%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
17.3%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.1%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.9%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
24.5%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.3
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,220
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
89%
287 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
81%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
3%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

Plume School at a glance

Located in Maldon, Essex, Plume School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. The school educates roughly 1,786 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 42.9, below the national average of 46. That is down 0.7 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

37% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 60% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Plume School was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 274 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 89% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.9%. There are about 15.3 pupils per teacher. 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.

Compare Plume School with another school