Free schools

Paxman Academy

Mixed · ages 11–16 · no sixth formEssex, East of England · Colchester CO2 9DBTrust: The Sigma TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
873of 900 places
Free school meals
33.3%
Year 11 cohort 2025
175
Ofsted
Good, 6 February 2024Read the Ofsted report
What the data says

The Department for Education has not published where Paxman Academy’s Year 11 leavers went next, so this page relies on the school’s results and subjects.

Drama is unusually popular at GCSE: 22% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 41.3 against 46.1 across England and 45.1 in Essex, with 34% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Languages are a small part of the curriculum here: entries in Spanish add up to 18% of the year group, and 17% of pupils entered the full EBacc set of subjects (England 41%).

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Essex and England.

The Department for Education has not published destination figures for this school (new school, small cohort or not a state-funded school).

GCSE results 2025

MeasurePaxman AcademyEssexEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)41.345.146.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths34%43%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths49%64%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects17%39%41%
EBacc average point score3.373.974.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort31%22%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils34.531.134.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils44.348.950.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language17%9%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
English Language175100%89%8%20%58%
Mathematics175100%88%13%22%59%
English Literature16192%86%9%21%63%
Combined Science13376%65%5%9%49%
Geography8649%41%7%25%50%
History7442%41%8%26%49%
Fine Art4224%9%12%28%64%
Biology3922%23%28%45%82%
Drama3922%7%3%27%41%
Chemistry3319%23%27%47%94%
Physics3218%23%28%46%100%
Spanish3218%19%6%27%38%
Computer Science2615%13%0%30%27%
Religious Studies2313%31%26%32%74%
3D Design1810%2%11%16%50%
Textiles137%2%8%27%85%
Polish53%1%84%
Turkish11%0%71%
Russian11%0%87%
Portuguese11%0%50%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Sports Studies42
Hospitality / Catering Studies37
Small Business Management36
Multimedia26
Health Studies24
Childcare Skills23
Engineering Studies20
Finance / Accounting (General)16
Music performance: Group12

Where Paxman Academy is

Other secondary schools in Essex are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Essex’s allocation statistics.

Other secondary schools in Essex

Alec Hunter Academy

Academy sponsor led · 1,058 pupils

80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.7

Anglo European School

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,533 pupils

96% stayed in education · Attainment 8 55.6

Beauchamps High School

Foundation school · sixth form · 1,486 pupils

83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.1

Bmat Stem Academy

University technical college · sixth form · 240 pupils

84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 28.1

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.