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  • Colchester Royal Grammar School
    6 Lexden Road
    Colchester
    Essex
    CO3 3ND
  • Head: Mr John Russell
  • T 01206 509100
  • F 01206 509101
  • E info@crgs.co.uk
  • W www.crgs.co.uk
  • A state school for boys aged from 11 to 18.
  • Read about the best schools in Essex
  • Boarding: Yes
  • Local authority: Essex
  • Pupils: 1018; sixth formers: 382
  • Religion: Christian
  • Fees: Day free; Boarding £16,425 pa
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
  • Ofsted:
    • Latest Overall effectiveness Inadequate 1
      • 16-19 study programmes Good 1
      • Outcomes for children and learners Good 1
      • Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate 1
      • Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate 1
      • Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate 1
    • 1 Full inspection 11th May 2021
  • Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report

What says..

The students, as one would expect at a school with a well-founded reputation for academic brilliance (CRGS is top of most national league tables), are all bright as buttons. Our tour guides were quick and amusing companions, well aware of their good fortune, but modest: ‘So many are bright here that it’s really nothing special,’ was one comment. Several major productions (often musicals) staged each year for musicians to be involved with. ‘We were amazed at the opportunities our son has, and it’s not just for the top performers either, it is also for fun.’ An atmosphere of learning pervades the whole school, no gossiping in the library, every head bent, and no gawping out of the window in lessons. Parents can’t…

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What the school says...

Colchester Royal Grammar School is committed to providing a high quality education for its students and aims at excellence in all that it does. The school has been ranked the top school nationally for A level results in the DfE performance tables for the last eight years. We see academic success as a by-product of our ethos - we aim to send able, educated, considerate and confident young men and women out into the world to become tomorrow's future leaders. We therefore attach great importance to extracurricular activities and the personal development of our students. CRGS is a forward-looking school which embraces traditional values. ...Read more

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School associations

State boarding school

State grammar school

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2015, John Russell BSc, MA, ARCS, previously deputy head of Cranbrook School. After taking a degree in physics at Imperial College and a PGCE (London) he embarked on a teaching career first at Davenant Foundation School in Essex before becoming head of physics at Ilford County High, Redbridge. Both Ilford and Cranbrook are grammar schools.

Has a great love of his subject: ‘It was a decision between a career in medical physics or teaching. I love teaching and I love being in the classroom.’ He continues to teach physics to a GCSE class, ‘Teaching is at the heart of the job, it’s important to keep my hand in.’ Has a friendly, unassuming manner and pupils (and parents) feel confident about approaching him directly. His study is off the main entrance...

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Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

Colchester Royal Grammar School takes a whole school inclusive approach to students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Students with SEND receive addition transition support before admission to the school. During key transition years pastoral professionals work together to carefully monitor students to identify those who require additional support. Students’ needs are identified using the four areas of need: • Communication and Interaction • Social Emotional and Mental Health • Cognition and Learning • Sensory and Physical Support is then tailored to help each individual student achieve all round development and success throughout their time at Colchester Royal Grammar School.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
Aspergers Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia Y
Dyspraxia Y
English as an additional language (EAL) Y
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class
HI - Hearing Impairment Y
Hospital School
Mental health Y
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty Y
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability Y
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability Y
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health Y
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication Y
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired Y
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty Y
VI - Visual Impairment Y

Interpreting catchment maps

The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.

Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.

For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained

Further reading

If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.

Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.

Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.

*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.

The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.

Children get into the school from here:

regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year


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