Helena Romanes School, Great Dunmow

From the headteacher's welcome: "At Helena Romanes, we are ambitious for our students and we offer them a rich and varied curriculum from the age of four to eighteen. Our students develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that enables them to move successfully into higher education, apprenticeships, training or employment."

The school runs a breakfast club from 7:30am and after-school care, from £4 per session.

Coming up: an open evening on Wednesday 18 November 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

In 2026, pupils at Helena Romanes School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 44, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.5 in Essex and 47 across England.

42% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 45% in Essex and 47% in England.

That is down from 46.6 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.38: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 28.6, against 47.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 18.6 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 24 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Business Studies and History.

For September 2026 entry, 142 families put Helena Romanes School as their first choice and 355 named it as one of their preferences, for 199 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

Helena Romanes School is one of 9 schools run by Saffron Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 51 in 2024/25.

Of the 177 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 85% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 40% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 3% into work.

Of the 83 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 39% went on to university or other higher education, 6% to apprenticeships and 39% into work. 5% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

5.1% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 107 pupils (8.5%) received SEN support and 23 (1.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Helena Romanes School.

3 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Helena Romanes School (ne-bound), 70 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Helena Romanes School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. On income deprivation affecting children it is in the 7th decile, where the 1st is the most deprived. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 57 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and criminal damage and arson. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Essex (97).

In 2024/25, Helena Romanes School issued 374 suspensions, 28.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Helena Romanes School are Great Dunmow Primary School (0.6 miles) and Dunmow St Mary's Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.