The results are in for the 2018 Sunday Times Schools Guide and it is good news for Essex schools
Anyone who works in education will know that the release of The Sunday Times Schools Guide is incredibly important. This guide recognises the top schools throughout the UK, splitting them down into regions across the entire country.
This November the results of the 25th edition of Parent Power, which is fully compiled by The Sunday Times were released. This particular guide looks at 2,000 of the highest achieving schools throughout the UK and then ranks them based on the results that were obtained during exams.
The East Anglia Region
The Top 10 State Schools in East Anglia
Regional rank | School name | Town | A-level A*-B (%) | GCSE A*/A/9/8/7 (%) | 2017national rank | 2016 national rank |
| 1 | Colchester County High School for Girls | Colchester | 82.7 | 89.9 | 14 | 21 |
| 2 | King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford | Chelmsford | 84.3 | 85.8 | 15 | 12 |
| 3 | Colchester Royal Grammar School | Colchester | 90.1 | 72.3 | 17 | 18 |
| 4 | Chelmsford County High School for Girls | Chelmsford | 78.9 | 87.4 | 24 | 13 |
| 5 | Westcliff High School for Boys | Westcliff-on-Sea | 82.4 | 69.3 | 34 | 52 |
| 6 | Westcliff High School for Girls | Westcliff-on-Sea | 80.5 | 68.2 | 38 | 55 |
| 7 | Southend High School for Girls | Southend-on-Sea | 76.6 | 69.9 | 52 | 128 |
| 8 | Southend High School for Boys | Southend-on-Sea | 79.0 | 57.4 | 69 | 68 |
| 9 | Saffron Walden County High School | Saffron Walden | 74.0 | 35.0 | 141= | 130 |
| 10 | Comberton Village College | Cambridge | 64.8 | 39.1 | 191 | 227 |
The one region that we were interested in had to be East Anglia, for obvious reasons, and we were impressed with the results that came out of the guide.
Out of the top ten secondary schools in the entire East Anglia Region, 9 of those schools were based in Essex. This particularly relate to those grammar schools, which made up 8 of the 9.
The top rated secondary school within the East Anglia Region is the Colchester County High School for Girls. Not only making it in the top 10 for East Anglia, but also recognised as being the 14th best placed school nationally.
When you look at the GCSE results obtained by this school, it all becomes clear why it has rated so highly. In fact 89.9% of all the results achieved were at the A* or A level.
Another school that was able to present some rather impressive results, albeit at A-level rather than GCSE was Colchester Royal Grammar School. Here, more than 90% of the results achieved at A-level were A, A* or B grades.
Parent Power- the most authoritative survey of the best schools in the UK
The idea behind Parent Power is to offer a database for parents of students entering secondary school age a way to compare performance within their own town or local authority. It also allows them to see how these particular schools in their area compare with this in the rest of the country.
Not only does it showcase academic results, but it also offers links to the websites for all the schools as well as the most recent inspection reports that the schools have received.
Top 10 Independent Schools in East Anglia
| Reional rank | School name | Town | A-level A*- B (%) | GCSE A*/A/9/8/7 (%) | 2017 national rank | 2016 national rank |
| 1 | The Perse School | Cambridge | 96.9 | 89.5 | 14 | 24 |
| 2 | Stephen Perse Foundation Senior School | Cambridge | 90.9 | 88.3 | 40 | 18 |
| 3 | Norwich School | Norwich | 85.8 | 74.3 | 78 | 86 |
| 4 | The Leys School | Cambridge | 81.8 | 71.6 | 96 | 171= |
| 5 | Chigwell School | Chigwell | 82.4 | 67.6 | 100 | 129= |
| 6 | Kimbolton School | Huntingdon | 79.8 | 57.8 | 158 | 266 |
| 7 | Ipswich School | Ipswich | 77.4 | 59.1 | 166 | 176 |
| 8 | Brentwood School | Brentwood | 75.3 | 58.1 | 181= | 187 |
| 9 | Ipswich High School for Girls | Ipswich | 67.8 | 70.3 | 192 | 257 |
| 10 | Norwich High School GDST | Norwich | 75.1 |
It comes as no surprise to us to see that Essex schools have rated so highly in this particular guide. After all, here you will find some of the best schools in the entire UK. We hope that given time that the schools in Essex, as well as throughout the rest of the East Anglia region, will grow and grow in their success and climb even higher in the ranking for the UK as a whole.
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