North East Essex Co-operative Academy
North East Essex Co-operative Academy is an academy alternative provision converter in Colchester for boys and girls aged 4 to 16. It has 105 pupils and room for 196. About 61 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
Walnut Tree Way, Colchester, CO2 9BS01206 852156neeca.co.ukMrs Joanne Cookson executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 16 July 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 25 May 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Essex council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (81), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (3), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 105 | 87 | 70 | 48 | 43 | 51 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 61% | 62% | 63% | 48% | 37% | 35% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 87% | 41% | 94% | 86% | 78% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 8% | 9% | 6% | 14% | 16% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 19 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 50%, compared with – for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 47% | 50% | 33% |
| Education | 37% | 17% | 24% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 11% | 0% |
| Work | 11% | 22% | 10% |
| Not in education, work or training | 37% | 28% | 29% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myland Community Primary School | Council | 410 m | 307 | Not inspected | 84 | Compare |
| Camulos Academy | Academy | 670 m | 406 | Not inspected | 88 | Compare |
| Queen Boudica Primary School | Council | 760 m | 408 | Good 2023 | 69 | Compare |
| The St Aubyn Centre Education Department | Pupil referral unit | 940 m | 6 | Outstanding 2023 | – | Compare |
| Highwoods Community Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 453 | Good 2024 | 85 | Compare |
| The Trinity School | Free school | 0.8 miles | 780 | No overall grade 2025 | 39 | Compare |
| The Gilberd School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 1,588 | Not inspected | 81 | Compare |
| Brinkley Grove Primary School | Foundation | 0.9 miles | 403 | Not inspected | 59 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is North East Essex Co-operative Academy a good school?
North East Essex Co-operative Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in July 2024.
What is North East Essex Co-operative Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated North East Essex Co-operative Academy good at its last full inspection on 16 July 2024.
How many pupils does North East Essex Co-operative Academy have?
105 pupils aged 4 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 196 places, so it is 54% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Walnut Tree Way, Colchester, CO2 9BS
- Telephone
- 01206 852156
- Website
- www.neeca.co.uk
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Joanne Cookson
- Type of school
- Academy alternative provision converter (Academy alternative provision converter, academies)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 4-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Keys Co-Operative Academy Trust (3 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Shrub End
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 143590 · LAESTAB 8811112 · UKPRN 10064712
- Formerly
- North East Essex Additional Provision School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.