The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College

My mental health suffered at this school a lot, I know of people with similar experiences too - felt extremely isolated from other students for 2 years & it felt like all that mattered was your grades & if you had a chance of getting into a top uni. Struggled with the lack of pastoral/mental health support offered, sixth form should not just be about pumping out top scores at the expense of having a good, well-rounded student experience.

The food is moody sometimes, they don’t really handle mental health and bullying well but everyone gets good grades. The issue with this is is if you get a 6 (good grade) they don’t care about you until you’re getting 8s and 9s. Also several of the male teachers have been fired for looking up girls skirts intentionally.

This school may look good from the outside, but I assure you, it is not. Personally, my mental health seriously deteriorated here. Many teachers were homophobic, or racist. They preach mental well-being, and the safeguarding staff and some pastoral staff were life savers, truly. They kept me going, but I wouldn’t have gone if I knew how dangerous it was to my mental health. But rest assured, they definitely pressure their students into doing the best they can, through blood sweat and tears, quit literally.

I highly recommend not sending your children here.

really great school which has a nice atmosphere and teachers who are friendly and good at their job. It is very LGBTQ+ positive and inclusive of trans and gay students and teachers. If you have any issues regarding friendships or mental health the teachers generally do their best to comfort you and resolve problems. The only reason i’ve taken off a star is because it feels like there is a lot of pressure to achieve high grades and if you’re in the lower end of your class some teachers won’t provide much positive feedback which can leave you discouraged and ultimately lead to you not improving as much as you could.