Harris Academy Riverside

Term dates

Free schools can set their own term dates. Many follow Thurrock council's dates, shown below as a guide, but check with the school, especially for INSET days.

• Term
• Holiday
• INSET day
• Exeat

See Thurrock's full dates

Admissions

Places for Year 7 are applied for through your home council, not the school.

Apply for a secondary school place on GOV.UK

How places are given: there's no entrance test. When there are more applicants than places, places usually go by criteria such as siblings, distance or catchment area. Check the council's or school's admissions policy for the exact rules.

For the sixth form, apply to the school directly.

How many families applied: Year 7

For September 2026, 148 families put this school as their first choice, and 180 places were offered. 130 of the families who put it first got a place (88%).

Offers made on national offer day, from the Department for Education. Waiting lists and appeals can change things later. The hardest schools to get into.

Ofsted inspection

Report card, 28 April 2026. Ofsted now grades each area separately, from exceptional to urgent improvement, with no single overall grade.

Inclusion

Strong standard

Curriculum and teaching

Expected standard

Achievement

Expected standard

Attendance and behaviour

Strong standard

Personal development and wellbeing

Expected standard

Sixth form

Expected standard

Leadership and governance

Strong standard

Safeguarding standards: met.

Previous inspection, 22 February 2022. Overall: Good

Read the Ofsted reports

From Ofsted's published inspection data (Open Government Licence). Report cards and older grades use different scales, so they can't be compared directly.

About and location

Type

Free school

Phase

Secondary

Ages

11–18

Pupils

1111 (capacity 1096)

Gender

Mixed

Academy trust

HARRIS FEDERATION

Phone

01375802060

Address

London Road, Purfleet, RM19 1QY

Website

harrisriverside.org.uk

Official school record, including Ofsted reports