Harlow's schools come out well, because the county they're graded in comes out well. Nearly nine in ten graded settings across Essex are good or better. A small number are outstanding and a handful are inadequate. One of the town's secondaries has been on national television. The question for a Harlow family is which school the council will offer, and the general standard is less of a worry.
Ofsted has graded 246 schools and settings across Essex, and 218 of them are good or better, which is nearly nine in ten. That county-wide count includes 22 rated outstanding, 23 that require improvement and 5 judged inadequate. Another 238 settings across the county have no published grade yet, and they shouldn't be counted for or against anyone. These are Essex totals, and Harlow is a small part of the count. Anyone comparing towns within the county is comparing them on the same county-wide figure.
Living close to a school doesn't win a place at it. Essex County Council allocates places under its published admissions rules, and distance is only one of the things those rules weigh. The council's allocation of past years is the thing to ask about for the specific street, because the school that looks nearest on a map is a different thing from the school the letter names. Church schools add their own layer. Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School in Old Harlow and St Mark's West Essex Catholic School both set their own admissions criteria, and faith can count. Parents who move for the school at the end of the road find out in spring how the council defines "end of the road".
Passmores Academy is the secondary most people have heard of without knowing why. It's where Educating Essex, the first school television series, was filmed, and the episodes went out in 2011. Sir Frederick Gibberd College opened in 2019 in a building made from prefabricated modules, then had to close in August 2023 over structural problems, and in December 2023 the government confirmed it would be demolished and rebuilt. A school named after the man who planned the town turned out to be the one building in it that wasn't built to its plan. For post-sixteen education, Harlow College covers sixth form and further education, and St Mark's West Essex Catholic School and BMAT STEM Academy also teach sixth formers. On the newer estates, Church Langley Community Primary School serves the estate it's named after.
Schools are one of Harlow's real strengths. Ofsted rates most of the county's settings well, so the risk for a family here is getting the wrong offer from the council more than getting a bad school.