Judgemeadow Community College Review 2026: A diverse Leicester secondary with above-average progress

Purposeful routines, clear expectations, and a strong emphasis on personal development shape daily life at Judgemeadow. Serving Evington and the wider Leicester area, it is part of the Lionheart Educational Trust and educates pupils aged 11 to 16.

Leadership has recently refreshed, with Alex Grainge taking up the headship from August 2024. A consistent message runs through the school’s public-facing priorities, academic ambition sits alongside a structured approach to behaviour, reading, and preparation for life after Year 11. Formal expectations are balanced by a strong pastoral framework and a deliberate effort to reflect the cultural diversity of the community the school serves.

Judgemeadow presents itself as a school that wants pupils to feel both safe and seen, particularly in a city where families often value a clear sense of belonging. The personal development programme places cultural understanding and staying safe at the centre, rather than treating them as occasional themes.

There is a strong behaviour narrative that is anchored in routines. Lesson starts are structured, with retrieval activities used to strengthen recall and help pupils connect current work to earlier learning. That kind of consistency typically matters most for pupils who thrive when classrooms feel predictable, especially at the point of transition into secondary school.

A further feature is the school’s explicit language around values. The HEART framework, Happiness, Excellence, Ambition, Respect, Teamwork, is presented as a shared reference point for rewards, conduct, and leadership opportunities. When values work best, they become a common vocabulary pupils and staff can use to resolve the small frictions of daily school life, rather than a poster initiative.

The newest phase of leadership is also visible in the way the school communicates. A student-led podcast, In the Meadows, is framed as a channel for current affairs, interviews, and community conversation. For some families, this kind of platform signals confidence in student voice, and it can be a meaningful indicator of wider opportunities for oracy and leadership.

Judgemeadow’s GCSE performance sits above England average in the way that most parents will recognise, pupils make stronger progress than expected from their starting points. A Progress 8 score of 0.33 indicates above-average progress across a pupil’s best eight subjects.

Attainment 8 is 50.8, and the average EBacc points score is 4.79. The EBacc points score is higher than the England average of 4.08, suggesting that pupils taking the full suite of EBacc subjects are achieving solid outcomes across that academic core.

On the FindMySchool ranking (based on official data), the school is ranked 1,070th in England for GCSE outcomes, and 16th locally in Leicester. This places it comfortably within the top 25% of secondary schools in England on that measure, which should feel reassuring for families comparing schools across the city.

It is worth reading these results alongside admissions demand. Where a school is consistently oversubscribed, it usually reflects a combination of parental preference, perceived trajectory, and local alternatives. Judgemeadow’s data points to that kind of competitive local position.

The curriculum model is designed to keep Key Stage 3 broad while still building the foundations that matter later. In Years 7 and 8, pupils follow a wide timetable including English, mathematics, science, humanities, religious education, a language (French or Spanish), and creative and technology subjects such as art, drama, design technology, food technology, and information technology.

A notable element is the explicit focus on personal development and communication skills. The school describes a bespoke Personal Development Curriculum, and, alongside this, a structured “soft skills passport” for Years 7 and 8 called Polished JM. In practice, this is a clear attempt to codify the behaviours and competencies that help pupils succeed in interviews, presentations, and post-16 applications. The advantage for parents is clarity, expectations are laid out, and pupils can track progress in a tangible way, rather than being told to “be more confident” without guidance.

As pupils move into Key Stage 4 planning, the school describes an EBacc-centred approach from Year 9 onward, with around 85% of pupils entered for EBacc subjects and a smaller proportion taking an adjusted pathway. The practical implication is that many pupils will study a language and a humanities subject through to GCSE, which tends to keep post-16 options open. This will suit families who value an academic core, even if a pupil’s longer-term plan is technical or vocational.

For pupils who need a different kind of support to stay engaged, the Ofsted report describes additional provision aimed at emotional and social support to help pupils access the wider curriculum. When done well, this kind of internal support can reduce exclusion risk and keep pupils connected to learning, though its impact depends on staffing consistency and the quality of the intervention programme.

As an 11 to 16 school, Judgemeadow’s destination story is primarily about post-16 progression to school sixth forms, sixth form colleges, further education, apprenticeships, and training routes. The most concrete published picture comes from Leicester City Council’s Connexions destinations summary shared via the school, which covers first destinations for 2024 leavers and updated destinations for the 2023 cohort.

From the 2024 cohort shown in that summary, 96.1% were participating in education, employment, or training by November, with 3.9% recorded as not participating at that checkpoint. This matters because November participation is a key moment, it is far enough into the autumn term for initial drop-off to show, and it gives families a sense of how effectively pupils are supported into sustained pathways.

The same destinations summary breaks down what pupils went on to do. The largest share progressed into sixth form colleges (68.4%), followed by further education (16.4%) and school sixth forms (8.2%), with smaller proportions in other categories. Those percentages suggest the typical Judgemeadow leaver is moving into full-time study rather than drifting into uncertain routes, which aligns with the school’s emphasis on careers guidance and next-steps planning.

For families wanting specifics, the destinations summary also lists the most common providers among those in full-time education. The largest shares were The City of Leicester College (38.1%), Gateway Sixth Form College (17.4%), and Leicester College (14.4%), followed by smaller proportions at providers including Beauchamp City Sixth Form, Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, and others. The practical takeaway is that Judgemeadow appears to feed into a mix of sixth form colleges and further education routes, which can suit pupils who want broader course choice, more independent study patterns, or technical pathways alongside A-levels.

Judgemeadow is a state school, so there are no tuition fees. Entry is coordinated through Leicester City Council’s secondary admissions process, even though the school is an academy.

Demand indicators are clear. For the admissions route captured there were 395 applications for 158 offers, a ratio of 2.5 applications per place, and the school is recorded as oversubscribed. This is the kind of pressure point that makes realistic planning essential, families should treat preference order carefully and include options where admission is more likely, as well as aspirational choices.

For 2026 entry, Leicester City Council’s published timeline states that applications open on 1 September 2025 and close on 31 October 2025, with offer notifications on 2 March 2026 for on-time applicants. The school’s own admissions guidance repeats the 31 October deadline and points families back to the council-coordinated route.

Because the last distance offered is not available provided here, parents should avoid relying on anecdotal distance assumptions. A practical step is to use FindMySchool’s Map Search to understand how your address may compare against likely local demand patterns, then sense-check this against the local authority’s admissions criteria and any published catchment mapping.

Appeals remain an option where a place is refused, but families should plan on the assumption that appeals are uncertain and evidence-dependent. Where a school is oversubscribed, the key question is whether admission criteria have been applied correctly to the child’s application.

Pastoral structures are described as a core strength, particularly in how pupils access trusted adults and how concerns are escalated. Ofsted reported a culture of care and confirmed that safeguarding arrangements were effective at the time of the inspection.

Behaviour is framed as calm and purposeful, with low-level disruption described as uncommon, supported by routines and systems intended to prevent small interruptions from disrupting learning. This should suit pupils who want classrooms that feel orderly and predictable, and it can be a stabilising factor for families who are wary of larger, more chaotic settings.

There are also two realistic areas for families to explore carefully. Attendance is identified as a concern for some groups, which usually reflects a mix of health, family circumstances, and engagement challenges. In addition, some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are described as not always being supported as consistently as their peers within lessons, with a call for clearer guidance and strategies for teachers. For parents of pupils with SEND, this means the best next step is a detailed conversation about classroom adaptations, the plan for teaching staff support, and how progress is monitored.

Extracurricular life at Judgemeadow is organised around access and practical support, rather than a long list of clubs that only a small subset can attend. A central offer is the Learning Resource Centre, which is open at break, lunchtime, and after school. Homework Club runs Monday to Friday from 2.45pm to 3.45pm, with access to computers and laptops for completing work. For families where home study space is limited, or where structured after-school study improves routines, that provision can be a genuine advantage.

The Polished JM programme is an unusually explicit approach to soft skills development. It sets out expectations around oracy, leadership, independence, and participation in school life, with an award at the end of Year 8 and a link to post-16 application evidence. The implication for pupils is that confidence and presentation skills are treated as teachable, not assumed, which can particularly help quieter pupils or those new to formal presentation and interview situations.

For pupils with interests in music and technology, the school highlights after-school access to the Music Department facilities (by booking with staff) and IT area access on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2.55pm to 4.00pm. It is a practical model, provide space and supervision, then encourage pupils to do the work. Year 10 and Year 11 revision sessions are also described as a departmental pattern, with details typically provided by class teachers.

Sport and facilities are another distinctive feature. The school operates a Community Football Development Centre, including third-generation synthetic pitches and extensive grass provision. It describes 14 grass pitches in total, including four full-size and eight youth pitches, plus a large sports hall used for a range of indoor sports. This scale is unusual for an urban secondary and can support both curricular PE and wider community sport.

Finally, broader enrichment sits alongside these in the form of a trust-wide Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme covering Bronze, Silver, and Gold. For pupils who respond well to structured challenge beyond lessons, DofE often becomes a key confidence-builder and a strong component of post-16 applications.

The published school-day schedule shows registration from 8.30am, with the final period ending at 2.45pm, though exact break and lunch timings vary slightly by year group. After-school study and supervised access runs beyond this, with Homework Club in the Learning Resource Centre running until 3.45pm on weekdays, and IT access until 4.00pm on three days each week.

For transport planning, families should check current local authority school transport guidance and public transport routes serving Evington, then compare journey times against the realities of after-school commitments such as intervention sessions, study clubs, or sports fixtures.

• Competition for places. Demand indicators show the school is oversubscribed, with 395 applications for 158 offers in the admissions route captured here. Families should plan preferences carefully and include realistic alternatives.

• Attendance remains a key focus. Official findings point to some groups having attendance that is too low, which can directly affect learning continuity and outcomes.

• SEND classroom consistency. Some pupils with SEND are not always supported as effectively as their peers in lessons, and teaching strategies are not always consistent. Parents of pupils with SEND should ask for specific examples of adaptations and how these are checked.

• Key Stage 3 breadth. Not all pupils study all subjects in sufficient breadth and depth throughout Key Stage 3, with work underway to address this. If your child has strong interests in less commonly prioritised subjects, ask how breadth is protected.

Judgemeadow offers a structured, purposeful secondary education with above-average progress and a clear emphasis on personal development and preparation for next steps. Its strongest fit is for families who want an orderly school culture, strong pastoral oversight, and a curriculum that keeps doors open into a wide range of post-16 routes. Admission is the main obstacle; the education that follows is best suited to pupils who respond well to routines, clear expectations, and a school that actively teaches confidence and communication skills.