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Felixstowe School vs Harwich and Dovercourt High School

At a glance

Felixstowe School in Suffolk and Harwich and Dovercourt High School in Essex are 4.2 miles apart in a straight line.

Ofsted rates both schools Good (Felixstowe School inspected 2024, Harwich and Dovercourt High School 2021).

Felixstowe School had the higher Attainment 8 score in 2025-26 (provisional): 40.3 against 34.1 (a gap of 6.2 points).

Progress 8 was not published for 2025-26 (provisional) so this comparison relies on attainment.

Overall absence in 2024-25 was 12.1% at Felixstowe School and 10.8% at Harwich and Dovercourt High School.

Felixstowe School has 1,211 pupils for 1,500 published places (81%) and Harwich and Dovercourt High School has 1,091 for 1,300 (84%).

Built from the figures in the table below. Sources and years are given next to every figure.

Side by side

Felixstowe School compared with Harwich and Dovercourt High School
Measure Felixstowe School Harwich and Dovercourt High School
Ofsted
Overall Ofsted grade Ofsted MI, inspections to 31 May 2026 Good 2024 Good 2021
School profile
Type GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract Academy sponsor led Academy sponsor led
Phase and age range GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract Secondary, ages 11-19 Secondary, ages 11-18
Location GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract Felixstowe, Suffolk Harwich, Essex
Pupils on roll GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract 1,211 1,091
Results and attendanceEach row shows the latest year both schools have a figure for. "Stronger" marks a gap big enough to matter in a year both schools report. Rounding-level differences are not marked. Attainment figures reflect each school's intake as well as its teaching. Progress 8 is the only measure here that adjusts for pupils' starting points.
Attainment 8 (average score) DfE KS4 results, 2025-26 (provisional) 40.3 Stronger 34.1
Progress 8 score DfE KS4 results, 2023-24 Progress 8 was not published for the 2025-26 (provisional) results because the Department for Education did not calculate it for that cohort. The last published year is shown. Confidence intervals overlap so there is no clear difference. -0.48 -0.67
Grade 5+ in English and maths DfE KS4 results, 2025-26 (provisional) 40% Stronger 23%
Grade 4+ in English and maths DfE KS4 results, 2025-26 (provisional) 59% Stronger 36%
Pupils at the end of key stage 4 DfE KS4 results, 2025-26 (provisional) 224 197
A-level average point score DfE A-level results, 2024-25 29.54 Stronger 20.00
A-level average grade DfE A-level results, 2024-25 C D
A-level students in the point score measure DfE A-level results, 2024-25 29 14
Overall absence (lower is better) DfE pupil absence, 2024-25 12.1% 10.8% Stronger
Persistent absence (lower is better) DfE pupil absence, 2024-25 Share of pupils missing 10% or more of sessions. 33.7% 33.0%
Intake and admissionsNot marked as stronger or weaker. These rows describe who a school serves and how its places are filled. They do not measure teaching quality so a higher or lower figure is not better.
Pupils eligible for free school meals GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract 26.6% 40.3%
Published capacity (places) GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract 1,500 1,300
Pupils on roll as % of capacity GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract, pupils divided by capacity 81% 84%
Admissions policy GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract Non-selective Not published
Religious character GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract None recorded None recorded

"Not published" means the figure is not published or is suppressed for that school and year. It does not mean zero.

Trends over time

Solid blue line with round markers: Felixstowe School. Dashed amber line with square markers: Harwich and Dovercourt High School. Years with no published figure for either school are left off the axis.

Attainment 8 (average score), higher is better
Attainment 8 (average score) by yearFelixstowe School: 2022-23 39.1, 2023-24 35.8, 2024-25 38.5, 2025-26 40.3. Harwich and Dovercourt High School: 2022-23 36.2, 2023-24 39.3, 2024-25 37.6, 2025-26 34.1.34.036.038.040.042.022-2323-2424-2525-26
Show these figures as a table
YearFelixstowe SchoolHarwich and Dovercourt High School
2022-2339.136.2
2023-2435.839.3
2024-2538.537.6
2025-26 (provisional)40.334.1

Source: DfE key stage 4 results, 2022-23 to 2025-26. The latest year is provisional.

Overall absence (% of sessions), lower is better
Overall absence (% of sessions) by yearFelixstowe School: 2018-19 7.4%, 2021-22 11.7%, 2022-23 12.6%, 2023-24 13.0%, 2024-25 12.1%. Harwich and Dovercourt High School: 2018-19 6.4%, 2021-22 11.3%, 2022-23 10.0%, 2023-24 10.0%, 2024-25 10.8%.6.08.010.012.014.018-1921-2222-2323-2424-25
Show these figures as a table
YearFelixstowe SchoolHarwich and Dovercourt High School
2018-197.4%6.4%
2021-2211.7%11.3%
2022-2312.6%10.0%
2023-2413.0%10.0%
2024-2512.1%10.8%

Source: DfE pupil absence, 2018-19 to 2024-25.

Grade 5+ in English and maths (% of pupils), higher is better
Grade 5+ in English and maths (% of pupils) by yearFelixstowe School: 2022-23 28%, 2023-24 26%, 2024-25 27%, 2025-26 40%. Harwich and Dovercourt High School: 2022-23 21%, 2023-24 34%, 2024-25 28%, 2025-26 23%.202530354022-2323-2424-2525-26
Show these figures as a table
YearFelixstowe SchoolHarwich and Dovercourt High School
2022-2328%21%
2023-2426%34%
2024-2527%28%
2025-26 (provisional)40%23%

Source: DfE key stage 4 results, 2022-23 to 2025-26. The latest year is provisional.

Admissions: how the two schools differ

Distance between the schools: 4.2 miles in a straight line between the two school sites. The coordinates come from the GIAS (DfE) March 2026 extract. This is not a walking or driving distance and it does not show which school your address is in catchment for.

How full they are: pupils on roll divided by published capacity from the GIAS (DfE) March 2026 extract. Both figures cover every year group (including any sixth form). Treat the percentage as a rough guide to demand rather than the size of the Year 7 intake.

Felixstowe School

Capacity
1,500 places
Pupils on roll
1,211
Full
81%
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Religious character
None recorded

Source: GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract. Each school's own admissions policy sets its oversubscription criteria. It is published by Suffolk (official admissions page) or by the school.

Check the catchment for your postcode Felixstowe School catchment page

Harwich and Dovercourt High School

Capacity
1,300 places
Pupils on roll
1,091
Full
84%
Admissions policy
Not recorded
Religious character
None recorded

Source: GIAS (DfE), March 2026 extract. Each school's own admissions policy sets its oversubscription criteria. It is published by Essex (official admissions page) or by the school.

Check the catchment for your postcode Harwich and Dovercourt High School catchment page

Sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are only comparable between schools within the same year.

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