Grays Convent High School

Thurrock · RM17 5UX

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 655 pupils, 21.6% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 8.7% on SEN support Behaviour 5.5% absence rate Staff 9.9% turnover Financials £8,003 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Grays Convent High School

General Information

Address: College Avenue, Grays, RM17 5UX – View on map
Phone: 01375376173
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Andrew Bull
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 82 families put it first for 137 places – 6 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 2 of the 137 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 7 · 2024 8 · 2025 8 · 2026 6
Sixth form: No
Intake: Girls
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

655 pupils out of 620 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 141
% eligible for free school meals: 21.6%
Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (more mixed than the Thurrock average)
English as an additional language: 21% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.9% a year (Thurrock 16.2%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 24% moved to another school, 76% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Thurrock: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 17 (1.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 23 (1.9 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 5 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Thurrock, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 5.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 13.5%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 8.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 26 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 55.7
Compared with the area: 9.3 points above the Thurrock average (46.4)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (+3.2 points against an expected 52.5)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 83% (Thurrock 67%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolThurrock averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 9.3 points above the Thurrock average (46.4).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

1st of 11 secondary schools in Thurrock for Attainment 8

#1Grays Convent High School55.7
#2Harris Academy Chafford Hundred55.5
#3Harris Academy Riverside47.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Grays Convent High School55.7
#2Harris Academy Chafford Hundred55.5
#3Harris Academy Riverside47.9
#4Harris Academy Ockendon47.3
#5Orsett Heath Academy47.0
#6Thames Park Secondary School46.4
#7The Gateway Academy46.1
#8St Clere's School43.2
#9William Edwards School42.5
#10The Hathaway Academy41.1
#11Ormiston Park Academy37.5

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 98.0%
Went into further education: 94.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Literature
English Language
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
French Language
History
Geography
Media Studies
Speech & Drama
Computer Science
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Photography
Food Technology
Spanish
Art & Design
D & T
Sports Studies
Music Studies (General)
Punjabi
Chinese
Italian
Polish

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

3rd of 10 secondary schools in Thurrock for Ofsted rating

#1Harris Academy Chafford HundredOutstanding
#2Harris Academy OckendonOutstanding
#3Grays Convent High SchoolGood
#4Orsett Heath AcademyGood
#5Thames Park Secondary SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Harris Academy Chafford HundredOutstanding
#2Harris Academy OckendonOutstanding
#3Grays Convent High SchoolGood
#4Orsett Heath AcademyGood
#5Thames Park Secondary SchoolGood
#6The Gateway AcademyGood
#7The Hathaway AcademyGood
#8Mossbourne Port Side AcademyRequires improvement
#9Ormiston Park AcademyRequires improvement
#10Mossbourne Fobbing AcademyInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,003 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

4th of 13 secondary schools in Thurrock for spending per pupil

#2St Clere's School£9,690
#3The Gateway Academy£9,536
#4Grays Convent High School£8,003
#5The Hathaway Academy£7,952
#6William Edwards School£7,796

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Ormiston Park Academy£10,078
#2St Clere's School£9,690
#3The Gateway Academy£9,536
#4Grays Convent High School£8,003
#5The Hathaway Academy£7,952
#6William Edwards School£7,796
#7Harris Academy Riverside£7,599
#8Harris Academy Chafford Hundred£7,484
#9Orsett Heath Academy£7,484
#10Harris Academy Ockendon£7,480
#11Thames Park Secondary School£7,474
#12Mossbourne Port Side Academy£5,640
#13Mossbourne Fobbing Academy£5,467

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Thurrock: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered