Leigh Academy Halley Review 2026: A “small school” model on a rare, listed campus, with a sharply improved inspection profile

Leigh Academy Halley is a mixed, state-funded secondary and post-16 academy in Blackheath (Royal Borough of Greenwich), serving students aged 11 to 19. It operates at human scale despite its size, using four “small schools” to keep pastoral oversight tight and relationships consistent from Year 7 through to sixth form.

The physical setting is unusually generous for London: nearly 13 acres, two grass quadrangles, adjoining playing fields with three full-size football pitches, a newly constructed Sports Centre, and a dedicated engineering and design facility, The Tallow Chandlers Engineering and Design Centre.

The most recent external picture is strongly positive. The 11 November 2025 Ofsted inspection (published 12 January 2026) graded Attendance and behaviour, Inclusion, Leadership and governance, Personal development and well-being, and Post 16 provision as Exceptional, with Achievement and Curriculum and teaching at Strong standard.

The academy’s identity is tied to two things that do not often sit together: a historically significant site and a deliberately modern operating model. The heritage is not subtle. The campus traces back to the post-war creation of Kidbrooke Comprehensive School for Girls, with buildings constructed in 1954 and described by the school as “listed” and designed by architects Slater, Uren and Pike, with Charles Pike named in the design history. The Main Hall’s domed ceiling and the “floating gallery” detail in the reception foyer are the kind of architectural features most London secondaries simply do not have.

That heritage matters because it shapes daily life in practical ways. The estate layout, with buildings spread across the grounds, allows for specialist spaces at scale, including drama, music, art, technology, and sport. The site’s two quadrangles and adjoining playing fields mean students have outdoor space that is still hard to find in inner London, including for structured sport and less structured social time at break and lunch.

The modern operating model is the “small school” structure. Students in Years 7 to 11 join one of Easley, Franklin or Turing, each led by a vice principal as Head of School. Hawking is the equivalent sixth-form “small school”, designed around post-16 academic and pastoral oversight. This matters for parents because it is not branding. It is a way of making a large school feel legible, so families know which leadership team to contact and students know which adults are responsible for their progress, behaviour and attendance.

Leadership is clear and stable. Mr Ben Russell is the Principal, and the Trust announced his appointment as substantive Principal from 1 June 2023, following a period as interim Principal from 1 January 2023. In practice, that timeframe is long enough to show whether a new team can execute, and the most recent inspection evidence strongly suggests the academy’s systems are now consistent and embedded.

Values and culture are presented in explicit language. The Principal’s welcome sets out a core values set of respect, achievement, collaboration, integrity and resilience, linked to a “values” curriculum that runs through the school’s pastoral and character education. For families, the practical implication is a school that has chosen a structured approach to behaviour and personal development rather than leaving it to informal norms that vary by classroom.

A final feature that shapes the atmosphere is inclusion. The academy is open about serving a wide range of needs, including a specialist resource provision associated with autism spectrum disorder, and the Royal Borough of Greenwich directory notes reserved places for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). If your child needs a mainstream setting with planned specialist capacity, that is a meaningful differentiator.

Leigh Academy Halley’s current profile is best understood as “solid in mainstream measures, with stronger signals in the wider quality picture than the raw figures alone might suggest”.

GCSE performance indicators (headline metrics)

• Attainment 8: 44.6.

• Progress 8: 0.09, a positive score indicating students make slightly above-average progress from their starting points.

• EBacc average point score: 4.33, compared with an England comparator value of 4.08.

These figures provide the best single snapshot of outcomes at the end of Key Stage 4. (All GCSE metrics and rankings in this section are based on the provided dataset and should be treated as fixed for this review.)

FindMySchool GCSE ranking context (based on official data)

Ranked 1846th in England and 11th in Greenwich for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This reflects solid performance, in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

For parents comparing local options, this placement usually means the school is not relying on selection to deliver outcomes, and results are likely to be more sensitive to cohort mix and student mobility than at highly selective or consistently affluent intakes.

Post-16 outcomes (A-level measures)

The A-level grade distribution is lower than England averages:

• A* at 0%

• A at 12.82%

• B at 17.95%

• A* to B at 30.77%, compared with an England comparator of 47.2% (A* to B).

FindMySchool A-level ranking context (based on official data)

Ranked 2133rd in England and 9th in Greenwich for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), placing it below England average on the dataset’s A-level ranking scale.

How to interpret the gap between inspection signals and exam measures

The academy’s sixth form offer is broader than A-levels alone. The school states it has been an International Baccalaureate World School since 2019, and it promotes the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) alongside vocational and technical pathways, including T Levels. The practical implication is that headline A-level measures may not fully describe outcomes for students on mixed programmes or technical routes, particularly where student cohorts include later joiners, students new to English, or students with additional needs.

If you are weighing sixth-form fit, it is sensible to ask for a pathway-by-pathway view of outcomes rather than relying on A-level measures alone.

Parents comparing multiple schools can use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and Comparison Tool to view GCSE and sixth-form benchmarks side-by-side within Greenwich, rather than trying to compare across different borough contexts.

Curriculum design at Leigh Academy Halley is intentionally broad and structured. At Key Stage 3, the academy offers the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) as the framework for learning, signalling an approach that values interdisciplinary thinking and skills development as well as content coverage. For families, the implication is a curriculum that aims to build subject knowledge while also teaching students how to organise learning, develop vocabulary, and communicate effectively.

At Key Stage 4, the school emphasises a “mastery of the core” approach while maintaining breadth in option subjects. In practical terms, this normally shows up in the timetable allocation and the consistency of English and mathematics expectations across years.

The strongest evidence about day-to-day classroom experience is the academy’s emphasis on subject-specialist teaching and consistent assessment routines. This matters because schools with high student mobility and diverse starting points tend to succeed when lesson structures and feedback cycles are predictable and coherent across departments.

At sixth form, the offer is explicitly multi-pathway. Students can pursue academic, vocational and technical programmes, including the IBCP and T Levels. The IBCP structure includes core elements such as Personal and Professional Skills (PPS), reflective project work and service learning. For students who are motivated by employment-linked study but want a programme that still retains an academic spine, that combination can be attractive.

A practical detail worth highlighting is sixth-form entry requirements where stated. For at least some IBCP components, the school sets a minimum of Grade 4 in GCSE English and Maths. Families should confirm subject-by-subject entry thresholds, especially for technical pathways, because these can vary.

Where Students Go Next

Leigh Academy Halley has a sixth form and therefore two “destinations” questions matter: what happens at 16, and what happens at 18.

After Year 11

A key advantage of a school with an integrated sixth form is continuity. Students who are settled can stay on into a familiar structure, with Hawking as the sixth-form “small school” providing tailored academic and pastoral support. That continuity can be particularly helpful for students who benefit from stable adult relationships and predictable systems.

After Year 13 (DfE destinations dataset figures)

For the 2023 to 2024 leavers cohort (cohort size 61):

• 39% progressed to university

• 25% entered employment

• 3% started apprenticeships

• 0% progressed to further education

These proportions indicate a mixed destinations profile, with a substantial group moving directly into work as well as a sizeable university pipeline. (Percentages may not sum to 100% due to categorisation and suppression rules.)

Because the academy also offers technical routes such as T Levels, a portion of “employment” destinations can be linked to industry placements and work-focused programmes, which may align with student goals where university is not the default route.

For parents, the key implication is that the sixth form is not designed only for one endpoint. It is designed to keep multiple “next steps” credible, including university, apprenticeships and direct employment.

Admissions differ by entry point, and it is important to separate Year 7, in-year admissions, and sixth-form entry.

Year 7 entry (September 2026 intake timeline)

Leigh Academy Halley sits within Royal Borough of Greenwich coordinated admissions, but it also uses a fair banding test and a supplementary form process.

• Royal Borough of Greenwich’s published timetable for secondary transfer indicates: applications open 1 September 2025, close 31 October 2025, offers published 2 March 2026, acceptance deadline 16 March 2026, and induction day 1 July 2026.

• The academy’s admissions information states that, in addition to the local authority application, an online supplementary form must be submitted by 31 October 2025 to be invited to the fair banding test.

• The admissions arrangements reference the 31 October deadline for the Common Application Form submission to the home local authority.

Families who are serious about the academy should therefore treat the end of October as a hard administrative deadline, and plan backwards to ensure all forms are completed.

Demand and oversubscription (Year 7 route, dataset figures)

Year 7 entry is competitive. The dataset records 472 applications for 165 offers, with an oversubscribed status and an applications-to-offers ratio of 2.86.

The last distance offered is recorded as 6.258 miles in 2024. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place.

A distance of this scale usually indicates the school is drawing from a wide area and that prioritisation criteria, sibling links and the banding process can matter more than many parents expect.

Parents should use the FindMySchool Map Search to check their current distance and compare it with the last distance offered, while recognising that the threshold will change year to year.

In-year admissions

For mid-year moves, the academy states that in-year applicants apply directly to the academy rather than via the main coordinated Year 7 process. This is relevant for families relocating into Greenwich or moving between London boroughs.

Sixth form entry (September 2026)

The academy welcomes internal and external applicants to sixth form. The admissions information highlights:

• A sixth-form open evening on Thursday 20 November 2025

• Applications submitted to the academy by February 2026

• Conditional offers based on achieving the required GCSE grades for chosen courses, with enrolment after GCSE results in August

This is a practical timeline. If your child is applying to multiple sixth forms, treat February as the internal application deadline and ensure predicted grades and pathway choices are realistic.

Pastoral support at Leigh Academy Halley is anchored in structure, not informal goodwill. The “small school” model is the key mechanism. Tutors stay with groups through the years and teach the values curriculum, which builds continuity, and the small school leadership teams oversee attendance, behaviour and progress within a contained community.

Inclusion is also a defining strand. The academy is explicit about supporting students who join at different points in the year and those facing barriers to learning, including special educational needs and disabilities and students who speak English as an additional language. It also has a specialist resource provision associated with autism, and the local authority directory notes reserved places for students with ASD.

Attendance and behaviour systems are described as consistent and explicitly taught through lessons and values work. This matters for parents because behavioural consistency is one of the strongest predictors of whether students feel safe and able to focus, especially in larger schools.

The academy also links wellbeing to practical opportunities, including enrichment and activities, and it references programmes such as Halley Heroes within its wellbeing communications. Families who want a school to treat wellbeing as a taught and planned strand, rather than a reactive service, are likely to see this as a positive.

Extracurricular provision at Leigh Academy Halley is organised in a structured timetable rather than as an informal add-on. The academy encourages students to join at least one club per week, with clubs typically running either before the academy day or after school from 3.15pm to 4pm, and no clubs on Wednesdays due to staff professional development.

A clear example of the “structured offer” approach is the mix of before-school sport and inclusion provision. The extracurricular page lists football sessions scheduled early in the morning for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 on different days, and it also includes an Inclusion Breakfast Club running every weekday morning. For families, the implication is that the academy is using timetable design to encourage routine, punctuality and engagement, with an emphasis on students being in the building and supported at the start of the day.

The named clubs are where the school becomes more distinctive. Recent examples include:

• Halley Rock Band Club and Year 8 Vocal Club, signalling a practical music offer rather than music existing only in the timetable.

• A STEM Green Power Race Car Club, which indicates hands-on engineering activity aligned with the school’s technical facilities and careers-linked pathways.

• A Manga book club and structured KS3 Homework Club, showing that the club offer includes both culture and academic support rather than focusing only on sport.

• Duke of Edinburgh provision appears in the clubs documentation, supporting wider personal development and commitment beyond exams.

Trips and wider experiences also appear to be planned as part of the programme. The academy runs cultural capital days and organises year group-specific events that alter the timetable for experiential learning. For students, the practical benefit is that enrichment is treated as an entitlement rather than something that depends on a single enthusiastic teacher.

Careers education is clearly structured. The academy describes a careers programme that includes workshops, external speakers and work-related learning, and it runs a full Year 10 work experience week with a fixed schedule. For families focused on employability and post-16 options, this is a meaningful part of the offer, particularly alongside T Levels and the IBCP.

Academy day and punctuality: Students are expected to arrive by 8.20am according to the academy’s published timings, and a separate academy communication for September arrangements states arrival by 8.25am, with dismissal at 3.10pm on most days and 2.20pm on Wednesdays. Families should confirm the current year’s daily timings, but the consistent message is that punctuality is treated seriously.

Enrichment timing: Many clubs run 3.15pm to 4pm, and there are also before-school activities.

Site and facilities: Expect a large, spread-out estate with specialist facilities including the Sports Centre (sports hall, dance studio and fitness studio), dedicated playing fields, and The Tallow Chandlers Engineering and Design Centre.

Transport and getting there: For public transport, the school’s trip planning communications frequently reference walking from the academy to Kidbrooke station for rail journeys, suggesting it is a practical route for older students. Local bus connectivity can be checked via Transport for London, which lists nearby stops and routes serving the Corelli College area.

• Admissions are procedural and deadline-led. Year 7 entry combines the borough process with a supplementary form and fair banding test. Missing the end-of-October administrative steps can remove options even before oversubscription criteria are considered.

• Distance data shows wide-area demand. In 2024, the last distance offered was 6.258 miles. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place. Families should treat this as a sign that admissions outcomes can turn on criteria beyond “living close”.

• Sixth form outcomes depend on pathway. Dataset A-level measures place the sixth form below England averages, while the academy also runs IBCP and T Level routes that may suit different students better than a purely A-level sixth form. Make sure you are comparing like with like.

• A large school still needs the right child-school match. The small school model is designed to prevent students feeling lost, but students who prefer very small cohorts should still test fit through open events and careful questioning about tutor groups, daily routines and how progress is tracked.

Leigh Academy Halley combines an unusually strong physical site, a well-defined “small school” pastoral structure, and a broad post-16 offer that includes technical and career-related routes as well as academic study. The most recent external evidence points to a school where behaviour, inclusion, leadership and personal development are now consistently executed, and that consistency matters more than any single initiative.

Best suited to families who want a structured, values-led secondary with credible vocational and academic pathways at sixth form, and who can handle an admissions process with multiple moving parts and firm deadlines.