Skip to content

School profile

William de Ferrers School

Trinity Square, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 5JU

State-funded
Secondary
Ages 11–18
Mixed
Sixth form

Overview

William de Ferrers School is a state-funded school (academy converter) in Chelmsford, East of England, for pupils aged 11–18. This summary is generated only from official structured fields.

School details

Official establishment type
Academy converter
Establishment group
Academies
Phase of education
Secondary
Age range
Ages 11–18
Gender of entry
Mixed
Boarding
No boarders
Sixth form
Yes
School capacity
2,076
Pupils on roll
1,237
URN
136605

Admissions

Admissions policy
Non-selective
Local authority
Essex
Academy trust or group
THE CHELMSFORD LEARNING PARTNERSHIP

Contact the school or your local authority for catchment and application deadlines.

School places

DfE school capacity survey · May 2025 (2024/25)

Capacity at survey date
1,740
Pupils on roll
1,238
Unfilled places at survey date
502

A dated snapshot from the Department for Education school capacity survey, separate from the school details above. Unfilled places at the survey date do not mean places are currently available for admission. About this data

Official admissions data

Applications & demand

Preferences expressed by families through coordinated admissions, shown over time.

2026/27 admissions · Year 7

First preferences
208

Times the school was named as a family's first preference.

Total preferences
416

All recorded preference positions for this school.

Offers made
215

Offers recorded through coordinated admissions, not physical capacity.

First preferences compared with offers

0.97 first preferences per offer

208 first preferences and 215 offers were recorded for 2026/27.

What does this mean?

This is the Department for Education's own published comparison of first preferences with total offers recorded. It indicates the level of requests made through coordinated admissions. Offers are not necessarily the school's maximum capacity, admissions arrangements vary between local authorities, the figure is not a measure of school quality, and it should not be used on its own to judge the likelihood of gaining a place.

First preferences over time

Latest five available admissions years. Missing years are not estimated.

Admissions history

Admissions yearFirst preferencesTotal preferencesOffers made
2026/27208416215
2025/26202434216
2024/25170385216
2023/24209432274
2022/23155333175

Source: Department for Education · Applications and offers data.

Official performance data

School performance

Official Department for Education results for this school. Results are shown for the academic year they relate to.

2024/25 results

  • Attainment 8 score

    School
    44.1
    England
    47.1

    Pupils included: 216

  • Grade 5 or above in English & maths

    School
    38.9%
    England
    46.5%

    Pupils included: 216

  • Grade 4 or above in English & maths

    School
    69%
    England
    66.4%

    Pupils included: 216

  • Entering the EBacc

    School
    9.7%
    England
    41.5%

    Pupils included: 216

Progress 8 was not published for 2024/25.

Source: Department for Education · School performance data.

Official inspection data

Ofsted inspections

Inspection information published by Ofsted, shown in Ofsted's own words.

Ofsted inspection

Inspected 24 September 2024 · Published 20 October 2024

Original education inspection framework (September 2024 to November 2025)

Ofsted did not give schools an overall effectiveness grade during this inspection period. The judgements Ofsted did publish are shown below.

Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding was effective
Yes
Sixth form provision (where applicable)
Good

View on Ofsted(opens in a new tab)

Ofsted changed how it inspects and reports on schools in November 2025. Judgements from the previous and current frameworks use different systems and should not be directly compared.

School Nest shows the inspection information Ofsted currently publishes for this school. It is not a complete record of every inspection the school has ever had.

Source: Ofsted · Inspections and outcomes. Official Ofsted page for this school

Location

Address
Trinity Square, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 5JU
Local authority
Essex

Ask School Nest AI

Ask a question about William de Ferrers School

Answers use only this school's official Department for Education record and the information the school has published on School Nest. If we don't hold the answer, School Nest AI will say so rather than guess.

AI can make mistakes and doesn't decide admissions — check important details with the school. Questions are sent to our AI provider and aren't stored by School Nest. See our Privacy Notice.

Contact this school

Parent Enquiries let families send a message straight to the school.

Please don't include medical, safeguarding or other sensitive personal information in your message.

This school isn't currently accepting enquiries through School Nest.

We'll share your enquiry and contact details with William de Ferrers School so the school can reply to you. See our Privacy Notice.