West Hatch High School

Epping Forest · IG7 5BT

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1573 pupils, 13.7% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 11.6% on SEN support Behaviour Data received Staff 11.3% turnover Financials £7,143 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

FOI Transparency How openly this school shares data

Cooperative 70 /100

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West Hatch High School

General Information

Address: High Road, Chigwell, IG7 5BT – View on map
Phone: 02085048216
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Victoria Schaefer
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 328 families put it first for 248 places – 13 for every 10 places. 65% of them were offered a place. 138 of the 248 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 12 · 2024 11 · 2025 8 · 2026 13
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1573 pupils out of 1523 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 169
% eligible for free school meals: 13.7%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Epping Forest average)
English as an additional language: 14% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.3% a year (Epping Forest 17.9%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 56% moved to another school, 44% 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.

Supply and cover teaching

Classes taught mainly by supply or cover staff for half a term or more: 32 (a full term or more: 32)
Teaching posts vacant or only temporarily filled during the year: 1
Days of supply or agency teacher cover: 148
Data year: 2025/26 (from the school, under Freedom of Information)

Government figures only count teachers on contracts of 28 days or more, so a class covered by a run of supply teachers doesn't show up in them – which is why we ask schools directly.

Behaviour

Data received 2025/26

About this Behaviour status

Real figures are in below, but not enough other schools of this type have reported yet to rank this one against peers.

Reading the numbers: higher figures below often mean a school records thoroughly and takes concerns seriously, rather than more incidents happening. A school reporting unusually low figures sometimes has a reporting gap rather than a problem-free intake. If a figure stands out, it's worth asking the school how it records.

Data year: 2025/26
Bullying incidents: 232
Physical aggression / violence incidents: <5
Child protection referrals: 84
Safeguarding concerns: 1922
Racist incidents: 37
Suspensions (fixed-term exclusions): 202
Permanent exclusions: 0
Sexual harassment or sexual violence between pupils (recorded incidents): <5 (led to a suspension or exclusion: <5; referred to social care or police: <5) – a higher number can mean a school takes reports seriously and records them carefully

See the bullying figures for every school in Epping Forest →

Figures may show "<5" for some schools.

What does "<5" mean?

A figure shown as "<5" means the real number is below 5 - the standard convention for this kind of data, used to avoid identifying individual pupils. Different schools may also record and define incidents differently, so read comparisons with care.

Across Essex: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 227 (2.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 216 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 112 (1.2 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 Essex (the council area this school is in), 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: 7.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 20.1%
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: 11.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.9%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Specific learning difficulty: 50 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 35 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 23 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 23 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 19 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 7 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils

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

–

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 –

This score reflects how openly the school responded to our Freedom of Information request. Schools that withhold information are rated lower — even the act of hiding data tells parents something about a school’s openness.

Response: Full response (+60)
Timeliness: Response date not recorded (+10)
Optional data: No optional data (+0)

Exemplary (80–100) · Cooperative (60–79) · Reluctant (40–59) · Obstructive (20–39) · Opaque (0–19)

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: 49.5
Compared with the area: 2.9 points above the Epping Forest average (46.6)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+1.2 points against an expected 48.3)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 76% (Epping Forest 70%, England 65%) Broadly steady
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 schoolEpping Forest averageEngland↗ Improving Up 2.5 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 2.9 points above the Epping Forest average (46.6).

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.

2nd of 7 secondary schools in Epping Forest for Attainment 8

#1Davenant Foundation School56.7
#2West Hatch High School49.5
#3Debden Park High School48.3
#4Roding Valley High School47.1

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Davenant Foundation School56.7
#2West Hatch High School49.5
#3Debden Park High School48.3
#4Roding Valley High School47.1
#5Epping St John's Church of England School42.8
#6The Ongar Academy37.4
#7King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy36.5

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 95.0%
Went into further education: 91.0%
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

English Language
Maths (General)
Biology
Physics (General)
English Literature
Chemistry (General)
Geography
History
Business Studies
Spanish
Media Studies
D & T
Computer Science
Psychology (General)
Economics
Speech & Drama
Art & Design
Religious Studies
Sports Studies
Food Technology
Music Studies (General)
Statistics
Polish
Gujarati
Italian
Punjabi
German

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

4th of 4 secondary schools in Epping Forest for Ofsted rating

#2Roding Valley High SchoolGood
#3The Ongar AcademyGood
#4West Hatch High 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

#1Debden Park High SchoolOutstanding
#2Roding Valley High SchoolGood
#3The Ongar AcademyGood
#4West Hatch High SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,143 (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.

5th of 7 secondary schools in Epping Forest for spending per pupil

#3Roding Valley High School£7,824
#4Davenant Foundation School£7,738
#5West Hatch High School£7,143
#6King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy£6,829
#7Epping St John's Church of England School£6,513

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

#1Debden Park High School£8,935
#2The Ongar Academy£8,200
#3Roding Valley High School£7,824
#4Davenant Foundation School£7,738
#5West Hatch High School£7,143
#6King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy£6,829
#7Epping St John's Church of England School£6,513

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

Environment

Data received 2025/26

About this Environment status

Based on real information requested under Freedom of Information, covering step-free access, specialist facilities, classroom climate, and technology provision.

Accessibility

Step-free for pupils, staff and visitors: No
Overall accessibility: Limited - N/a What the
Lifts for pupil use: No
Accessible toilets: Yes
Changing Places facility: Yes

Climate

Classrooms with air conditioning: 39.5%
Mechanical ventilation: Yes - some classrooms
Air cooling units: No
Shaded outdoor areas: Yes
Heatwave procedures: Yes - informal arrangements

Technology

Pupil devices (approx.): 400
Pupils per device: 4:1
Digital display in every classroom: Yes
Interactive whiteboards: Yes - some classrooms
1:1 pupil device programme: Yes - some year groups
Coding / robotics equipment: Yes - AV1 Robot
Assistive technology for SEND pupils: Yes - SSOverlay

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Supply and cover teaching

Behaviour

Across Essex: 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

Environment

Accessibility

Climate

Technology

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered