The Gilberd School

School overview

The Gilberd School is a secondary school serving Colchester, Essex, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 1,574 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 53.4, above the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 1.9 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 18% of secondary schools in England.

58% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well above the national average of about 45%. 77% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 67% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (401 first choices for 306 places). After Year 11, 94% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.3%. There are about 18.9 pupils per teacher. The Gilberd School 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.