Westcliff High School for Boys Academy

Westcliff High School for Boys, usually shortened to WHSB, is a selective boys' grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea with a mixed sixth form. The school was founded in 1920 and is still strongly rooted in Southend and the wider Essex CSSE area. Its own description is not just about examination results: WHSB says its purpose is to develop character and intellect in a happy, scholarly community. The current roll is about 1,292 pupils, including the sixth form.

The lower and middle school curriculum is deliberately broad. In Year 7, pupils study English language and literature, mathematics, science, PE and games, RE, PSHEE, art, computer science, design and technology, drama, geography, history, music, Latin and two modern foreign languages chosen from French, German and Spanish. The school describes this as part of a Learner Profile built around scholarship, self-confidence and critical thinking rather than a narrow GCSE track.

The sixth form is academically selective and has a clear identity of its own. Students normally take three or four A-level subjects, with four recommended at the start, and the published subject list includes art, biology, chemistry, computer science, design and technology, economics, English literature, further mathematics, geography, geology, history, languages, music, politics, psychology, religious studies and Spanish. The wider sixth-form programme includes PSHEE, assemblies, practical life-skills work, one afternoon a week for activities, community volunteering and the option to complete an EPQ dissertation and research project.

Outside lessons, WHSB has one of the more detailed public co-curricular offers in the Essex grammar group. Sport is prominent, with representative teams, recreational clubs and inter-house competitions. Music includes choirs, string ensembles, jazz bands, a Big Band and a full symphony orchestra; drama includes productions led by both pupils and staff. The school also lists Duke of Edinburgh, Combined Cadet Force, debating, medicine, robotics, chess, wargaming, pupil-led societies and trips ranging from theatre and music visits to Iceland, Barcelona, China, battlefield tours, ski trips and exchanges.

For Year 7 entry, WHSB uses the CSSE route: separate English and mathematics papers, age-standardised, with a published admission number of 185. The school reserves up to 148 places for candidates living in SS0 to SS9, including up to 15 preferential-consideration places, then has a smaller outside-priority-area route; within the relevant categories, passing scores are ranked. The current record notes that CSSE offers are not made below a total standardised score of 303. Recent public benchmarks show Ofsted Outstanding, +0.93 Progress 8, 99.4% grade 5+ in English and maths, and 42.3% AAB or better at A level.