Chase High School Review 2026: An 11 to 18 academy in special measures, with clear priorities for rebuilding culture and outcomes

In Westcliff on Sea, Chase High School is a mixed 11 to 18 academy within Discovery Educational Trust, serving a large local cohort with a stated focus on Ambition, Resilience and Kindness. A change in leadership in October 2023 and a recent programme of site investment, including a £5 million humanities building and upgraded sports surfaces, sits alongside a difficult inspection and performance picture that families need to understand clearly. The school was judged to require special measures after its November 2024 inspection, and subsequent monitoring in 2025 emphasised early progress while setting out substantial remaining work. For parents, the key question is trajectory, how consistently standards are applied day to day, and how quickly outcomes begin to catch up with the school’s ambitions.

Chase High presents itself as a purposeful, inclusive comprehensive, with values that are intended to be lived rather than displayed. Ambition, Resilience and Kindness appears as a unifying framework across the main school and sixth form, and it is positioned as the lens through which behaviour, participation and personal development are shaped. In practice, the recent inspection history means families should focus less on branding and more on the lived culture, how safe students feel, and how reliably adults intervene when standards slip.

Matthew Suttenwood became headteacher on 16 October 2023, after a period of secondment that allowed him to get to know the school before formally taking up the post. Leadership stability matters here because the past two years have included both a steep accountability moment and the start of a restructuring phase, including curriculum redesign, a sharper approach to behaviour routines, and changes intended to rebuild trust between students and staff.

The most important cultural point for parents is that the school’s recent public narrative is explicitly about improvement, not reassurance. The November 2024 inspection described serious weaknesses in safety and culture, including students’ confidence that adults would act on concerns, and the normalisation of discriminatory language in parts of student life. In 2025 monitoring, the picture shifts to early signs of a more positive environment and clearer routines, while still highlighting inconsistency in how well policies and curriculum expectations are implemented across subjects and classrooms. Taken together, that is a school in transition, with the daily experience likely to vary more than at a settled, consistently high performing comprehensive.

Chase High’s published outcomes place it in the lower performing group of secondary schools in England on the FindMySchool measure set, and that aligns with the inspection narrative about weak learning over time. Ranked 3,698th in England and 6th in Westcliff on Sea for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school sits below England average overall.

At GCSE level, the Attainment 8 score is 32.5 and Progress 8 is -0.93. For families, the Progress 8 figure is the clearer headline, it indicates that pupils, on average, made substantially less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points. EBacc outcomes are also very low on the published measure set, with 2.3% achieving grades 5 or above in the EBacc and an EBacc average point score of 2.79, compared with an England average of 4.08 for EBacc APS.

At A level, outcomes are also well below typical national levels. Ranked 2,509th in England and 6th in Westcliff on Sea for A level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school’s A level grade profile shows 9.64% of entries at A* to B, compared with an England average of 47.2% on the same measure set. This is a significant gap and explains why improvement planning is likely to focus heavily on curriculum sequencing, literacy and learning habits, alongside attendance and behaviour.

The school’s stated intent is an ambitious, appropriately challenging curriculum taught by highly qualified staff, and leadership has described a drive to lay foundations for a lifelong love of learning. In a school working to recover outcomes, the practical question is what changes students feel in lessons: clearer explanations, stronger routines, tighter checking for understanding, and more consistent expectations of effort and completion.

External evidence from 2025 monitoring describes active work to redesign the curriculum so it is better sequenced and accessible, with stronger identification of what students should learn and remember in each subject. It also describes increasingly consistent lesson routines, including recap of prior learning and more frequent checks on what students have understood. The implication for families is that teaching practice is intended to become more standardised across classrooms, which is often a necessary step in moving a school from uneven quality to dependable day to day learning.

The same monitoring evidence is clear that variability remains a key issue. In some subjects, expectations and ambition were described as still too low, and teaching did not always identify and teach important knowledge and vocabulary with enough precision. For pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, both the graded inspection and subsequent monitoring stress that adapting curriculum and teaching to specific needs must become more accurate and more consistently implemented. In an 11 to 18 setting, this matters because gaps compound quickly, a weaker Year 7 and Year 8 foundation tends to show up sharply at GCSE and post 16.

Where Students Go Next

Chase High has a sixth form and the admissions arrangements include both internal progression from Year 11 and external entry into Year 12, subject to published minimum academic criteria. For families considering the full 11 to 18 journey, the most concrete destination indicators available are the 16 to 18 leaver measures for the 2023/24 cohort.

For 2023/24 leavers, 15% progressed to university, 4% to further education, 3% to apprenticeships, and 31% to employment. For parents, this profile suggests that a sizeable share of the cohort moves directly into work, while a smaller group progresses into higher education. In a school aiming to strengthen outcomes, a common improvement focus is raising attainment and attendance so that more students can access a wider range of post 18 options, including selective university courses and higher level apprenticeships.

It is also worth understanding what Chase High’s sixth form entry rules imply. External applicants are competing for a published admission number of 30 places in Year 12, and entry is conditional on meeting minimum GCSE thresholds, including an Average Grade Score requirement and subject specific requirements for chosen courses. This creates a sixth form that is likely to contain a mix of internal students meeting the threshold and a smaller external group, with the academic bar set out in policy rather than informal guidance.

Year 7 applications are coordinated through the local authority, Southend on Sea City Council, using the standard secondary application process. The determined admissions policy for 2026/27 sets a Published Admission Number of 226 for Year 7. If the school is oversubscribed, places are prioritised in order: looked after and previously looked after children, then siblings in Years 7 to 11 at the time of admission, then children living within the Priority Admission Area, then children of staff who meet specific employment criteria, followed by all other applicants.

The tie breaker for Years 7 to 11 is distance, measured by the local authority using computerised software, based on straight line distance between the child’s home address and the nearest pupil entrance. Where distances are equal, random allocation is used with independent oversight. For families, that means two practical actions: confirm whether your address is inside the Priority Admission Area, and treat distance as the key differentiator once priority categories have been applied. Parents comparing local options can use the FindMySchoolMap Search to check distances consistently when you are shortlisting.

For sixth form, the route is direct application to the school. The 2026/27 admissions policy sets the Published Admission Number for external Year 12 applicants at 30. Minimum entry criteria are stated as an Average Grade Score of 5 for a three A level route (with optional Extended Project Qualification), or an Average Grade Score of 4 for a combined BTEC and A level route, alongside English Literature or Language and subject specific requirements. Conditional offers are made ahead of GCSE results, but firm offers depend on evidence of GCSE grades meeting the criteria.

The critical safeguarding and culture issues set out in the November 2024 inspection mean wellbeing is not a soft add on at Chase High, it is central to whether the school can improve. The inspection narrative focused on students’ confidence that concerns would be handled properly and on discriminatory behaviour that was not consistently challenged. Any parent considering the school should treat behaviour culture as a first order question on visits, including how staff respond to unkind language, how bullying reports are recorded and followed up, and how students are taught to recognise and report harassment.

The school’s improvement activity in 2025 monitoring includes clearer routines and a more positive environment, with pupils reporting that they feel safer and have trusted adults to turn to. Systems for checking pupils’ safety were described as effective, and the monitoring evidence also points to significant work on reducing misogyny compared with the position at the graded inspection. The implication is that the direction of travel is towards more reliable adult intervention and a stronger safeguarding culture, but that it is not yet fully embedded across all staff and student groups.

For pupils with additional needs, the admissions policy confirms that Chase High has a Specialist Resource Provision for up to 12 pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans for designated forms of special educational needs. In a mainstream secondary, this kind of targeted provision can be valuable when it is well staffed and aligned with high expectations, but families should ask clearly how mainstream teachers are trained and supported to adapt teaching, because both inspection and monitoring evidence highlights this as a key improvement requirement.

Chase High’s enrichment offer is structured around before school sport, lunchtime clubs and after school sessions, and the published timetable includes a mixture of academic support, identity groups, creative options and structured sport. For families, this matters because a strong extracurricular rhythm can improve attendance, strengthen belonging and give students a reason to stay engaged while academic recovery work is underway.

Several clubs stand out for being specific and sustained rather than one off. Esports runs at lunchtime, alongside Chess Club and a consistent Homework Club offer. There are language clubs including French Club, Spanish Club and German Club, plus subject enrichment such as History Club and Geography Explorers Club. Creative options include Creative Writing, Film & Photography, Drama Club, show rehearsals and Performance Choir (Bellacapella). For students who prefer structured social spaces, Chat and Chill appears repeatedly on the timetable, and LGBTQ+ is listed as a lunchtime group.

Sport is also organised across the week, including Basketball, Football, Netball, Cross Country, Badminton, Tennis, Racket Sports and Trampolining. There is also ESA Training listed as invite only, and some after school football sessions are delivered by a Chelsea Coach. The implication is that sport can operate both as participation for all and as a more targeted pathway for selected students, which is often important in keeping older year groups engaged.

For leadership and character development, Duke of Edinburgh is listed for Key Stage 4 and separately for Year 9, and the timetable also includes a Fundraising Club and Careers Drop in sessions. Taken together, the enrichment programme looks designed to rebuild positive peer norms and provide supervised spaces at break, lunch and after school, which aligns with the improvement focus described in monitoring evidence.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Families should still budget for uniform, equipment, trips and optional extras. The school publishes a 2025/26 uniform price list through its supplier, with items such as a branded blazer from £36.50 to £37.00 and a school tie at £8.00, alongside PE kit options and knitwear.

The published school day begins with before school sport from 07.30, breakfast available from 07.45, and expected arrival by 08.25. Tutor time runs 08.30 to 08.50, and the last taught period ends at 15.00, with after school activities running 15.00 to 16.00, noting that matches can finish later. For wraparound care, the information provided focuses on breakfast availability and after school activities rather than a full late pickup childcare model, so parents who need daily supervised care beyond activities should check current arrangements directly.

On travel, Southend’s admissions booklet is clear that parents remain responsible for ensuring their child gets to school, and that most families walk, cycle or use public transport. In practical terms, that makes journey planning and reliability a key part of choosing between local options.

• Special measures context. The school is in a recovery phase after the November 2024 inspection and subsequent monitoring in 2025. Families should focus on how consistently behaviour standards are applied and how learning is improving across subjects, not only in pockets of strength.

• Variation between classrooms. Monitoring evidence describes improvement in routines and curriculum work, but also ongoing variability in teaching quality and curriculum ambition. Students who need very consistent structures to thrive may find this phase harder than a more settled school.

• Sixth form entry is criteria based. External Year 12 places are limited and minimum GCSE thresholds are explicit. This can be a positive for clarity, but it also means families should be realistic about eligibility and have a Plan B for post 16.

• Budgeting for non tuition costs. There are no fees, but uniform and optional extras can still add up. The published uniform price list is a helpful starting point for planning.

Chase High School is a large local academy with clear stated values, recent capital investment, and an extensive enrichment timetable that can support belonging and engagement. The core issue is that outcomes and inspection evidence have been poor, and improvement work is still bedding in across curriculum, behaviour culture and consistency of teaching. This option best suits families for whom location and community fit matter, who want an inclusive comprehensive with a sixth form, and who are prepared to scrutinise improvement momentum carefully. Families building a shortlist should use the FindMySchool Comparison Tool on the Local Hub page to view nearby alternatives side by side, and the Saved Schools feature to track questions and visit notes as the picture evolves.