Southend High School for Boys, Southend-on-Sea

In 2026, pupils at Southend High School for Boys averaged an Attainment 8 score of 75.1, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 55 in Southend-on-Sea and 47 across England.

98% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 59% in Southend-on-Sea and 47% in England.

That is up from 73.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.74: pupils made well above 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 69.5, against 75.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 6 points.

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

Southend High School for Boys is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 308 families put Southend High School for Boys as their first choice and 1095 named it as one of their preferences, for 177 places offered. That is 1.7 first choices for every place. 158 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Southend High School for Boys admits pupils through an entrance test - in Southend-on-Sea, the CSSE (Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex) test. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Southend High School for Boys ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Southend-on-Sea's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Southend-on-Sea has 4 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Southend High School for Boys are Chase High School (0.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 38.5); St Thomas More High School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 52.9); Westcliff High School for Boys Academy (1.1 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 77.2); and St Bernard's High School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51.5).

Southend High School for Boys's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Of the 180 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 3% to a further education college.

Of the 221 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 71% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 14% into work. 48% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

7.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 8.4% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (49%), Asian (19%) and Black (10%).

In 2026, 54 pupils (4.1%) received SEN support and 27 (2%) 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 autism.

Southend High School for Boys has a resourced provision for autism: 15 places, 13 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Prittlewell Rail Station, about 1120 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Highfield Gardens, 140 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 634 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Southend-on-Sea (318), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Southend High School for Boys issued 14 suspensions, 1.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Southend High School for Boys are Earls Hall Primary School (0.3 miles); Prince Avenue Academy and Nursery (0.4 miles); The Westborough School (0.5 miles); and St Mary's, Prittlewell, CofE Primary School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.