The Trinity School
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The Trinity School is a free school in Colchester for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 780 pupils and room for 900. About 16 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 39 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 15% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Carris Close, Colchester, CO4 6ED01206 700910thetrinityschool.co.ukMr Edward Turner headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 7 May 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
0 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
305 places were empty (34% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 392% since 2021/22.
How places were given out for September 2026. The last place was given under this rule: Criterion 4.
| Entry | Places | Applied at all | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 180 | 685 | – | LA |
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (48), Autistic spectrum disorder (22), language and communications needs (10), Moderate learning difficulty (6), Specific learning difficulty (4), Other difficulty or disability (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 780 | 597 | 419 | 239 | 123 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 16% | 15% | 16% | 14% | 7% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 13% | 11% | 11% | 8% | 7% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 15% | 18% | 18% | 15% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 91.5% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 8.5% | 8.6% | 6.7% | 6.5% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.5% | 6.0% | 5.2% | 5.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.0% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 20.1% | 22.0% | 15.5% | 12.4% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 14.4 | 23.6 | 7.1 | 4.9 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | – |
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 secondary 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Gilberd School | Academy | 60 m | 1,588 | Not inspected | 81 | Compare |
| Colchester Academy | Academy | 1.8 miles | 879 | Good 2023 | 14 | Compare |
| St Helena School | Academy | 1.9 miles | 986 | Good 2024 | 43 | Compare |
| Colchester Royal Grammar School | Academy (grammar) | 2.4 miles | 1,073 | Report card 2026 | 100 | Compare |
| St Benedict's Catholic College | Roman Catholic | 2.8 miles | 905 | Good 2023 | 76 | Compare |
| Colchester County High School for Girls | Academy (grammar) | 2.8 miles | 1,198 | Outstanding 2023 | 99 | Compare |
| Philip Morant School and College | Academy | 3.1 miles | 1,888 | Good 2023 | 48 | Compare |
| The Thomas Lord Audley School | Academy | 3.3 miles | 940 | Not inspected | 57 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Trinity School with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 39 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 39% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 21 to 60. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | above | +0.19 | Ofsted grade, 1.4 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.45 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.07 | 2024/25; 633 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What pupils do next | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is The Trinity School a good school?
It is about average. The Trinity School scores 39 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 15% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 21 to 60, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is The Trinity School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Trinity School not judged at its last full inspection on 7 May 2025.
How many pupils does The Trinity School have?
780 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 900 places, so it is 87% full.
Is The Trinity School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 305 places were empty in 2024/25 (34% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at The Trinity School?
Pupils were in school 91.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 20% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at The Trinity School?
The average class had 27.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 24% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Trinity School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Carris Close, Colchester, CO4 6ED
- Telephone
- 01206 700910
- Website
- www.thetrinityschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Edward Turner
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Alpha Trust (5 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- Mile End
- Constituency
- Colchester
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2021
- URN
- 143701 · LAESTAB 8814021 · UKPRN 10088816
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- 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.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Essex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- 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.