Mark Hall Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Harlow, Essex·CM17 9LR
Composite score
48.6
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#2,659
National rank
#299
In East of England
#59
In Essex
Top 84%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
38.9
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
30%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
54%
% EBacc grade 5+
4%
EBacc average points score
3.10

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
134 first choices, 155 places
First choices per place
0.86
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
351
any preference, for 155 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.12
00.511.5
1 per place
0.6920220.8820230.6920240.7520250.862026

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

Every child who put Mark Hall Academy 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
11–16
Pupils on roll
843
Gender
Mixed

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
30.8%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
14.4%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
15.3%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
1.4%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
9.2%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
27.1%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.0
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£6,998
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
92%
164 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
86%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
5%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Mark Hall Academy is a secondary school serving Harlow, Essex, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. It has 843 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 38.9 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 4.7 points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

30% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 54% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Mark Hall Academy their first choice was offered one of its 155 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 92% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.2%. There are about 17.0 pupils per teacher. Mark Hall Academy 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.

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