The Hawthorns School
The Hawthorns School is a special free school in Chelmsford for boys and girls aged 7 to 16. It has 69 pupils and room for 70. About 23 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Thornhurst Road, Chelmsford, CM1 2XT01245 207607thehawthornsschool.comMiss Hayley Kersey headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 6 January 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
10 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 10 | 5 | 3 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | – | – | 64% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | – | – | 10% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 0% | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 0% | – | – | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 0% | – | – | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
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.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 21 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for all schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (62), emotional and mental health (3), language and communications needs (3), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 69 | 30 | 24 | 14 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 23% | 20% | 21% | 14% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 12% | 13% | 13% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 10.0% | 5.3% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.4% | 5.3% | 3.1% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 14.6% | 8.0% | 14.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 16.7 | 0.0 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
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 special 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sir Geoff Hurst Academy | Free school | 140 m | 66 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Kings Road Primary School | Academy | 590 m | 403 | Good 2020 | 25 | Compare |
| Parkwood Academy | Academy | 670 m | 196 | Requires improvement 2024 | 8 | Compare |
| Tanglewood Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 750 m | 133 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery | Academy | 820 m | 413 | Good 2020 | 36 | Compare |
| Maltese Road Primary School | Academy | 820 m | 211 | Good 2024 | 81 | Compare |
| St Pius X Catholic Primary School | Academy | 890 m | 215 | Not inspected | 78 | Compare |
| King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford | Academy (grammar) | 960 m | 1,153 | Report card 2026 | 99 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Hawthorns School a good school?
The Hawthorns School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from January 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.
What is The Hawthorns School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 6 January 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.
How good are The Hawthorns School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.
How many pupils does The Hawthorns School have?
69 pupils aged 7 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 70 places, so it is 99% full.
What is attendance like at The Hawthorns School?
Pupils were in school 90.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 15% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about The Hawthorns School?
91% of the 21 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 76% say their child is happy there. Across England, 84% of parents would recommend their child's school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Thornhurst Road, Chelmsford, CM1 2XT
- Telephone
- 01245 207607
- Website
- www.thehawthornsschool.com
- Headteacher
- Miss Hayley Kersey
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 7-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- SEAX Trust (5 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- St Andrews
- Constituency
- Chelmsford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2023 (academy free school)
- URN
- 149335 · LAESTAB 8817006 · UKPRN 10091687
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.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- 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.