Essex

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Code: E10000012
Director of Children's Services: Helen Lincoln

Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Essex’s local authority children’s services

These inspections focus on the effectiveness of local authority services and arrangements:

  • to help and protect children, and enable families to stay together and get the help they need
  • the experiences and progress of children in care wherever they live, including those children who return home
  • the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after, in stable, loving homes, including adoption
  • the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Inspection type Inspection start date Overall effectiveness Impact of leaders Help and protection Children in care Care leavers
ILACS Short Inspection 26 June 2023 Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Essex Local Area Partnership

The purpose of an area SEND inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Inspection outcome

Essex local area partnership has not yet been inspected under the current Area SEND framework.

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Essex local authority

The agencies for these inspections can include the police, children’s social care, probation services, education and relevant health services. Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and childcare providers. The focus of these inspections is how effectively the local safeguarding partners work together at the practice and strategic levels.

Theme Inspection start date Link
There have been no JTAI inspections for this local authority.

Data source

Ofsted inspection reports and tools

Local authority inspection reports (opens in new tab)
Access to childcare dashboard (childcare deserts and oases) (opens in new tab)

Local authority context

Population 18 and under Number %
Essex 346,472 22.2%
National 12,869,368 22.0%

Data source

Children looked after Number Rate per 10,000
Essex 1,141 35
National 81,770 67

Data source

School-age pupils eligible for free school meals Number %
Essex 43,630 20.9%
National 2,085,168 26.7%

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School-age pupils eligible for extra funding (pupil premium) Number %
Essex 49,247 23.7%
National 2,266,608 29.3%

Data source

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in state-funded settings Number %
Essex 42,086 17.9%
National 1,766,924 19.6%

Data source

School-age pupils with English as an additional language Number %
Essex 24,383 10.9%
National 1,806,029 21.4%

Data source

% of children in income-deprived families (IDACI) Average %
Essex 30.0%
National 38.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Health Index (children and young people) Health Index score
Essex 105.0
National 100.8
More details about the health index metric

Indicates the health of an area measured in three domains: Healthy People, Health Lives and Healthy Places.

A score of 100 represents health in England in 2015. A higher number means better health and a lower number means worse health.

Data source

Remit overview

Contents

Early years

Population Number in Essex % in Essex % National
Aged 0 to 5 years 102,666 6.6% 6.4%
Aged 0 15,419 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 1 16,163 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 2 17,434 1.1% 1.1%
Aged 3 17,185 1.1% 1.1%
Aged 4 17,986 1.2% 1.1%
Aged 5 18,479 1.2% 1.1%

Data source

Disadvantaged Number in Essex % in Essex % National
Early years pupil premium 2,471 2.4% 3.3%
Children looked after (under 1 year) 67 0.4% 0.6%
Children looked after (1 to 4 years) 163 0.2% 0.4%

Data sources:

Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) /
Education, health and care plans (EHCP) 		Number in Essex % in Essex % National
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 2 and under) 31 0.1% 0.3%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 3) 231 1.3% 3.7%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 4) 1,621 9.0% 9.4%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5) 2,087 11.3% 12.1%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 3,970 3.9% 4.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 2 and under) 3 0.0% 0.0%
Children with an EHCP (age 3) 42 0.2% 0.7%
Children with an EHCP (age 4) 270 1.5% 3.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 5) 608 3.3% 4.7%
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 923 0.9% 1.6%

Data sources:

Funded early years places for 2-year-olds Population aged 2-years-old Number of eligible 2-year-olds % of population aged 2 % take-up of funded places
Essex 17,434 3,370 19.3% 67.0%
National 630,059 145,824 23.1% 65.2%

Data source

Funded early years places for 3-year-olds Population aged 3-years-old Number of eligible 3-year-olds % of population aged 3 % take-up of funded places
Essex 17,185 All 3-year olds are eligible 93.1%
National 625,948 90.6%
The 2 and 3-year-old funded places tables look different because they measure different things; funded places for 2-year-olds are only for children considered to be disadvantaged, while for 3-year-olds everyone is entitled to a funded place.

Data source

Children's overweight and obesity Number in Essex % in Essex % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 3,540 22.8% 23.5%

Data source

Oral health Number examined in Essex % examined in Essex % in Essex % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 2,128 12.0% 14.1% 22.4%
Back to the top of the section Data source

Schools

Population Number in Essex % in Essex1 % National1
Primary-age pupils (ages 5 to 11) 131,462 8.4% 8.2%
Secondary-age pupils (ages 12 to 16) 95,438 6.1% 6.2%

Data source

Population of looked-after-children Number in Essex % in Essex1 % National1
Ages 5 to 9 163 0.2% 0.4%
Ages 10 to 15 413 0.4% 0.7%

Data source

Pupils eligible for free schools meals Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 24,479 20.3% 25.3%
Secondary 17,601 20.8% 27.5%
Alternative provision 169 53.3% 64.6%
Special 1,353 42.1% 49.5%
Non-maintained special 28 38.9% 31.0%

Data source

Pupils eligible for pupil premium Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 25,180 20.9% 25.1%
Secondary 20,526 23.5% 28.9%

Data source

Pupils with SEND Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 20,654 16.8% 18.2%
Secondary 14,922 15.5% 16.5%
Alternative provision 258 80.4% 83.4%
Special 3,824 100.0% 99.9%
Non-maintained special 102 100.0% 99.7%
Independent schools 2,284 20.4% 24.1%

Data source

Pupils with English as an additional language Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 15,008 12.2% 23.4%
Secondary 9,118 9.5% 19.2%
Alternative provision 7 2.2% 7.6%
Special 172 4.5% 14.5%
Non-maintained special 25 24.5% 11.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Attendance of all pupils up to week 4 of calendar year % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 94.3% 95.0%
Secondary 91.2% 91.8%
Special 87.2% 87.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals (summer term 2024/25) % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 90.3% 91.9%
Secondary 82.4% 85.2%
Special 86.5% 85.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils with SEND (summer term 2024/25) % in Essex2 % National2
Primary 91.0% 92.1%
Secondary 82.9% 84.3%
Special 88.8% 87.3%

Data source

Primary attainment: Year 1 phonics screening pass Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
All pupils 13,315 79.6% 79.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 1,744 60.5% 66.6%
Pupils with SEND 1,065 40.6% 43.4%
Pupils with English as an additional language 1,613 80.7% 79.5%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Primary attainment: Year 4 times table check (full marks) Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
All pupils 6,128 34.8% 36.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 923 22.6% 27.4%
Pupils with SEND 499 14.3% 16.5%
Pupils with English as an additional language 973 45.7% 45.2%

Data source

Primary attainment: Key stage 2 reading, writing, maths combined (met the expected standard) Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
All pupils 11,058 63.2% 62.6%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 1,839 43.5% 47.7%
Pupils with SEND 831 22.9% 23.8%
Pupils with English as an additional language 1,366 67.3% 66.2%

Data source

Secondary attainment: Attainment 8 Average in Essex2 National average2
All pupils 44.9 45.9
Pupils eligible for free school meals 30.9 35.0
Pupils with SEND 26.2 28.1

Data source

Population receiving education outside of their local authority Number outside of Essex % outside of Essex2 % National2
Primary 3,028 2.5% 4.1%
Secondary 6,219 7.2% 8.7%
Special 317 9.3% 9.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source
Children being home educated Number in Essex % in Essex1 % National1
Primary 1,200 0.9% 0.8%
Secondary 2,920 3.1% 2.5%
Total 4,100 1.8% 1.5%
More details about the children being home educated numbers
Local authority data in the source dataset has been rounded to the nearest 10. As a result totals may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Data source

Suspensions (from primary school) Number in Essex Rate per 100 pupils in Essex3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 1,442 1.2 0.9
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 808 0.7 0.5
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 450 1.9 (in group) 1.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 653 3.3 (in group) 2.4 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded primary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from secondary school) Number in Essex Rate per 100 pupils in Essex3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 6,582 6.8 7.8
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 3,642 3.8 3.8
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 1,703 9.3 (in group) 8.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 1,311 8.8 (in group) 9.1 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded secondary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from special school) Number in Essex Rate per 100 pupils in Essex3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 134 3.7 5.1
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 78 2.2 2.9
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 44 3.1 (in group) 4.1 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 78 2.2 (in group) 2.9 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded special schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Back to the top of the section
Exclusions (from primary school) Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 6 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 4 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 4 0.0% 0.1%

Data source

Exclusions (from secondary school) Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 73 0.1% 0.1%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 40 0.2% 0.2%
Pupils with SEND 32 0.2% 0.3%

Data source

Exclusions (from special school) Number in Essex % in Essex2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 2 0.1% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 2 0.1% 0.0%
Back to the top of the section Data source

1. % of all children in Essex / England.

2. % of all pupils in state-funded settings across Essex / England.

3. Rate per 100 pupils in state-funded settings across Essex / England.

Further education and skills

Population Number in Essex % in Essex % National
Aged 16 to 18 years 54,263 3.5% 3.6%
Aged 19 to 21 years 41,180 2.6% 3.6%
Aged 22 to 24 years 47,527 3.0% 3.6%
Aged 25 years and over 1,128,186 72.2% 70.8%

Data source

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Number in Essex % in Essex % National
16- to 17-year-olds known to LA 35,852 2.4% 2.4%
NEET 1,523 4.2% 3.4%
Activity not known 813 2.3% 2.2%
Total NEET or activity not known 2,336 6.5% 5.6%

Data source

16 to 18 progression to higher education or training % in Essex % National
Degrees (all) 61.0% 66.0%
Degrees at top third higher education institutions 20.0% 24.0%
Higher apprenticeships 3.0% 2.0%
Other study at level 4 and 5 2.0% 3.0%
Progressing to higher education or training 65.0% 70.0%
More details about the further education and skills destinations data

This data reflects the destinations of pupils based on the number on roll when they were aged 16 to 18, tracking where they progressed after completing their studies.

Degree destinations include any study at level 6 or higher such as bachelor degrees, graduate diplomas, and post-graduate degrees. The top third higher education institutions when ranked by average UCAS tariff score of entrants across their best 3 A levels.

Higher apprenticeships are those from level 4 to 7 and are equivalent to a foundation degree and above. Degree apprenticeships are available at levels 6 and 7.

Other study at level 4 or 5 destinations include those students studying qualifications such as foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).

Data source

Social care

Explore the findings from Ofsted's local authority inspections.

Explore population characteristics for this local authority.