Brentwood secondary school one of Essex’s most over-subscribed

A Brentwood secondary school is one of Essex’s most over-subscribed, data has revealed.

Just 57 per cent of first-place preferences were successfully awarded to those applying to attend Becket Keys Church of England Free School. That is even fewer than the 69.6pc awarded last year.

Of the 291 applicants who put Becket Keys down as a first-place preference, only 140 were offered a place.

There were eight second-place preference offers and two third-place preference offers.

Altogether the school offered 190 places for a September 2023 start.

Becket Keys was rated outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection in 2014. Its 2022’s Attainment 8 score was 56.4. Its Progress 8 score is 0.35.

The report from Ofsted said: “High aspiration is embedded across the school. Work is suitably challenging and students are expected to write at length. They understand what they need to do and how to improve their work because the marking of their books is of a high quality.”

The county’s most over-subscribed non-selective secondary school was De La Salle School in Basildon, according to the government data.