King’s Academy Binfield Review 2026, an all-through academy with a clear values framework

A newer all-through academy serving Binfield and the wider Bracknell area, King’s Academy Binfield is designed to take children from Nursery through to sixth form. It opened for its first Year 7 cohort on 04 September 2018, and has expanded year-on-year.

Families considering an all-through route often prioritise continuity, and this is a school built around that promise, with a house system and consistent routines running across age phases. The academy sits within King’s Group Academies, which shapes governance, policies, and parts of the wider educational offer.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Parents should still plan for the usual extras such as uniform, trips, and optional activities.

The clearest organising idea here is a shared language of expectations. The DARE values, Determination, Aspiration, Respect, and Enthusiasm, appear in the day-to-day culture and link to the house system: Churchill, Curie, Mandela, and Nightingale. House points are tallied through the year, with a trophy awarded at the end of the academic year.

All-through schools can feel fragmented if primary and secondary cultures pull in different directions. The evidence here points the other way. Cross-phase activity is part of the model, including older pupils supporting younger readers, and pupils describing pride in the school and its high expectations.

Leadership has also moved into a more established phase. Miss Kerri-Anne Leavy is listed as Executive Principal and started in June 2025, bringing recent senior leadership experience into a school that is still growing into its full age range.

Finally, the school’s SEN offer has a distinctive element for a mainstream setting. Mosaic is the named specialist resource provision, intended to support pupils with autism and moderate learning difficulties while keeping them connected to mainstream lessons and wider school life where appropriate.

Public results data for this school is currently strongest at secondary level.

Ranked 1,496th in England and 2nd in Bracknell for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data)

This places results in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile), a profile that is broadly solid rather than selective or ultra-high performing.

The Attainment 8 score is 47.3, with a Progress 8 score of 0.02, indicating progress broadly in line with the national picture and slightly positive overall. The average EBacc APS is 4.44, above the England average shown (4.08).

One figure to read carefully is EBacc grade outcomes. The percentage achieving grade 5 or above in the EBacc is 22.1%; that statistic is not the same as EBacc entry, and it can move materially depending on cohort profile and entry policy.

For parents, the practical implication is this: if you are choosing the all-through pathway for stability and breadth, the academic picture supports that choice. If you are seeking a heavily exam-driven environment or very high headline grade profiles, it is sensible to compare local alternatives using FindMySchool’s Local Hub comparison tools.

The curriculum intent is built around continuity and sequencing across phases. External review evidence describes a curriculum that is well ordered and sequenced, with subject leaders setting out the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn, and consistent classroom approaches developing across the school.

Languages are a notable through-line. Spanish is positioned as a core element across primary and secondary, and the school states that at Key Stage 4, 94% of students follow an EBacc pathway (with language continuation to GCSE compulsory for most students).

The most important improvement point relates to literacy support for older students who enter secondary still in the early stages of reading. External evidence is explicit that these pupils need a more rigorous and sequential approach so gaps close more quickly. For parents of children with known reading needs, the right question is not whether support exists, but how it is structured, who delivers it, and what progress measures are used term-by-term.

An all-through structure changes the usual transition pressure points. For many families, the most significant “destination” is simply staying on, from primary into Year 7, then from Year 11 into sixth form.

For post-16, KAB6 positions itself around both academic and applied routes. The sixth form references opportunities such as the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and an ASPIRE programme that links students with professional settings, alongside other enrichment and leadership options.

On entry requirements, published sixth form information for 2026 to 2027 states that applicants must achieve GCSE grade 4 in English and Maths, plus subject-specific requirements for chosen courses.

The school also references Russell Group progression as part of its outcomes narrative, but does not publish a quantified annual destinations breakdown on the pages reviewed. Where this matters, ask for the most recent leavers summary and how many students progressed to university, apprenticeships, and employment, ideally with numbers not just examples.

Demand is clearly above supply at the main entry points.

• Reception entry: 195 applications for 59 offers, around 3.31 applications per place year.

• Year 7 entry: 464 applications for 201 offers, around 2.31 applications per place year.

This pattern matters because it signals that admission is the constraint, not whether the school is a viable option educationally.

Routes and criteria. Reception and Year 7 places are allocated via the local authority coordinated process, with oversubscription criteria set out in the school’s published arrangements, including designated area, siblings, and other priority categories. The published arrangements also make one point especially clear for families planning early: there is no automatic transfer from Nursery to Reception; parents must still make a Reception application even if their child attends the nursery.

Key deadlines for September 2026 entry (Bracknell Forest):

• Secondary applications close 31 October 2025, with national offer day 02 March 2026.

• Primary applications close 15 January 2026, with national offer day 16 April 2026.

Open events

For Year 7 entry 2026, the school advertised an open evening in late September 2025. In practice, open evenings for secondary entry typically run in September, while sixth form events often sit later in the autumn term, so parents should check the school’s Open Events page for the current cycle.

Nursery admissions nuance

The nursery entry point is attractive in an all-through model, but availability can tighten quickly. The school states that its 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 nursery waiting lists are closed, which is a material planning consideration for families with younger children.

Safeguarding is treated as a central operational discipline. Ofsted confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective, with strong staff training and meticulous record keeping.

Behaviour and anti-bullying practice are described as typically very good, with leaders addressing bullying effectively and taking care to investigate issues fairly. In an all-through setting, that consistency matters, because families experience the institution over many years and across very different developmental stages.

For children needing more structured support, Mosaic provides a defined pathway within the mainstream school, aiming to support academic progress and emotional wellbeing while keeping pupils included in wider school life.

The best examples here are the programmes that repeat and scale across year groups rather than one-off clubs.

Friday enrichment blocks

The school runs enrichment sessions during the school day in multi-week blocks, with options including STEM, Construction, Weaving, Passport to the World, and Fun, Friendship and Feelings. Younger pupils also have options such as Planeteers, Cooking, and Karate in the enrichment cycle. The implication is breadth without relying only on after-school availability, which can help families juggling wraparound logistics.

Creative and Performing Arts

At secondary level, the Creative and Performing Arts offer includes clubs such as Musical Theatre, Dance Company, and a DT Club (CAD/CAM), plus a pattern of external-facing opportunities such as dance competitions and public performance. This suits students who want structured routes to performance and production, not only end-of-year showcases.

Sport and facilities that enable regular participation

Facilities listed by the school include a sports hall with a full-sized netball court, a dance studio, pitches including an 11-a-side football pitch and rugby pitch, a 3G surface, plus a multi-use games area with four tennis or netball courts. For students, the implication is simple: training and fixtures are easier to sustain when facilities are on-site and timetabled.

School day and term pattern. The academy publishes detailed term dates for 2025 to 2026, and a primary day structure showing school gates opening at 08.20, flexible drop-off from 08.30, and home time at 15.30 for EYFS and Key Stage 1.

Wraparound care. Wraparound is provided by Funtastic Kids. Breakfast club runs 07.30 to 08.30 (£5.40 per session). After-school provision runs from 15.30, with collection options at 16.30 (£7) or 18.00 (£12.50). For children attending a school club first, the service describes an option to join later and stay to 18.00 at £7.40.

Travel and access. As a Bracknell Forest all-through academy, day-to-day travel patterns will depend heavily on your precise location relative to the designated area maps. Families often find it useful to use FindMySchool’s Map Search tools to check realistic travel times and to model how distance criteria might apply when demand is high.

• Competition for places: Demand exceeds supply at both Reception and Year 7 entry points, so families should treat the school as a strong option but not the only plan.

• Nursery availability constraints: With the nursery waiting list for 2026 to 2027 stated as closed, families planning an early-years entry should map alternatives early and keep an eye on the next published intake cycle.

• Reading support in secondary: The school’s development priorities include strengthening the approach for older pupils still at early reading stages; parents of children with literacy needs should ask how interventions are structured and measured.

• Careers and work experience maturity: Careers education is developing, but meaningful work experience opportunities were not described as fully established at the time of the latest inspection; sixth form families should ask what the current work experience model looks like.

King’s Academy Binfield is a modern all-through option where consistency is a deliberate design choice, from values language and houses to curriculum sequencing and cross-phase routines. The academic profile at GCSE is broadly in line with the middle band of England schools, with slightly positive progress, and a curriculum model that keeps language study prominent.

Best suited to families who value an all-through structure, want a stable set of routines from early years through adolescence, and are comfortable engaging actively with admissions planning in a competitive local market.