Mark Hall Academy is a mixed secondary academy in Harlow, Essex County Council, teaching 867 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted graded quality of education as Requires improvement at its most recent inspection in March 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 38.9 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 1 September 2025 to 20 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Mark Hall Academy.

Latest inspection
Graded inspection No single overall grade (Sept 2024+)

From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.

Quality of educationRequires improvement
Behaviour & attitudesGood
Personal developmentGood
Leadership & managementGood
Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 · Inspected 4 Mar 2025 · Published 20 May 2025
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Mark Hall Academy.

Mark Hall Academy term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Autumn Term
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Autumn Term
  • 27–31 Autumn Half Term
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Autumn Term
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–19 Autumn Term
  • 22–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day
  • 26 Boxing Day
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–2 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year's Day
  • 5–31 Spring Term
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 1–28 Spring Term
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–27 Spring Term
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6–17 Easter Holiday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 13–30 Summer Term
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Term
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25–29 Summer Half Term
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–30 Summer Term
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–20 Summer Term
  • 21–31 Summer Holiday
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Holiday
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term Sep 1, 2025 - Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Oct 27, 2025 - Oct 31, 2025 Holiday
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term Jan 5, 2026 - Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Feb 16, 2026 - Feb 20, 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Holiday Apr 6, 2026 - Apr 17, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term Apr 13, 2026 - Jul 20, 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term May 25, 2026 - May 29, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Holiday Jul 21, 2026 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • New Year's Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
  • Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
38.9 Attainment 8 England 46.1
29.7% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4%
32.1% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Mark Hall Academy with Essex County Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 38.9 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Essex County Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 38.9
Essex County Council 45.1 England 46.1 -7.2 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 29.7%
Essex County Council 43.1% England 45.4% -15.7 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 32.6
Essex County Council 31.1 England 34.9 -2.3 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 9.5
Essex County Council 17.8 England 15.5 -6 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 34.1%
Essex County Council 21.8% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 138
Attendance 32.1% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Essex County Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 32.1%
Essex County Council 17.7% England 17.8% +14.3 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 9.9%
Essex County Council 6.9% England 6.8% +3.2 vs England
What pupils do after GCSEs 92% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school Essex County Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 92%
Essex County Council 92% England 92% in line with England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 90%
Essex County Council 81% England 83% +7 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Mark Hall Academy. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Mark Hall Academy than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.