Paxman Academy is a mixed secondary free school in Colchester, Essex County Council, teaching 873 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted rated it Good at its last graded inspection in February 2024. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 41.3 (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 Paxman Academy.

Latest inspection
Good Overall effectiveness
Quality of educationGood
Behaviour & attitudesGood
Personal developmentGood
Leadership & managementGood
S5 Inspection · Inspected 6 Feb 2024 · Published 13 Mar 2024
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 Paxman Academy.

Paxman 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 Autumn Term starts
  • 1 Inset Day
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
  • 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
  • 27 Inset Day
  • 28 Inset Day
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
  • 19 Autumn Term ends
  • 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 Spring Term starts
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
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term
  • 23 Inset Day
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
  • 27 Spring Term ends
  • 30–31 Easter Holiday
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
  • 1–10 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 13 Summer Term starts
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
  • 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
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
  • 20 Summer Term ends
  • 20 Inset Day
  • 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
September 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 Summer Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term starts Sep 1, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
  • Autumn Term ends Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term starts Jan 5, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term ends Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Easter Holiday Mar 30 - Apr 10, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term starts Apr 13, 2026 Term
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Half Term May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term ends Jul 20, 2026 Term
  • Summer Holiday Jul 21 - Sep 1, 2026 Holiday
  • Inset Day Sep 1, 2025 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Nov 27, 2025 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Nov 28, 2025 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Feb 23, 2026 Inset Day
  • Inset Day Jul 20, 2026 Inset Day
  • New Year's Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
  • Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday Apr 6, 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 ↗
41.3 Attainment 8 England 46.1
34.3% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4%
21.8% Persistent absence England 17.8%

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

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 41.3 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 41.3
Essex County Council 45.1 England 46.1 -4.8 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 34.3%
Essex County Council 43.1% England 45.4% -11.1 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 34.5
Essex County Council 31.1 England 34.9 in line with England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 9.8
Essex County Council 17.8 England 15.5 -5.7 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 30.9%
Essex County Council 21.8% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 175
Attendance 21.8% 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 21.8%
Essex County Council 17.7% England 17.8% +4 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 8.2%
Essex County Council 6.9% England 6.8% +1.5 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 Paxman 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 Paxman 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.