The Ongar Academy, Ongar

In 2026, pupils at The Ongar Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 40, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.5 in Essex and 47 across England.

31% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 45% in Essex and 47% in England.

That is up from 37.4 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.57: pupils made well 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 31.7, against 42.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Construction and the Built Environment and Business Studies.

For September 2026 entry, 90 families put The Ongar Academy as their first choice and 193 named it as one of their preferences, for 107 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The Ongar Academy is one of 11 schools run by Bridge Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47.8 in 2024/25.

Of the 111 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 84% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 53% to a further education college, 5% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 33 students who left the sixth form in 2022/23, 39% went on to university or other higher education, 15% to apprenticeships and 30% into work.

3.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (86%) and Mixed (5%).

The Ongar Academy had 38 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of The Ongar Academy.

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is The Gables (adjacent), 150 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 55 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and burglary. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Essex (97).

In 2024/25, The Ongar Academy issued 170 suspensions, 33.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to The Ongar Academy are Ongar Primary School (0.5 miles), High Ongar Primary School (0.7 miles), Chipping Ongar Primary School (1.3 miles) and Dr Walker's CofE Primary School (1.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.