Emerson Park Academy Review 2026: A sport-strong Havering comprehensive with a distinctive aptitude pathway

A traditional house structure, a purposeful approach to behaviour, and unusually strong sports infrastructure combine to make Emerson Park Academy feel more structured than many local comprehensives. Students are organised into four houses, Brunel, Cavell, Hepworth and Redgrave, which gives day-to-day school life a clear identity and a ready-made framework for competition and belonging.

The latest Ofsted inspection (21 and 22 June 2022) graded the school Good across all judgement areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

Admissions are competitive. For the main Year 7 route in the most recent demand data provided, there were 618 applications for 190 offers, a ratio of 3.25 applications per place, consistent with an oversubscribed school.

Leadership is stable. Mr Scott McGuinness is the current head teacher, and he was already in post by 2016.

The school’s public language is direct and aspirational, with “Endeavour, Persevere, Achieve” used prominently as a guiding statement. What matters for families is whether that ethos translates into daily routines that help students learn, feel safe, and stay motivated. Here, the strongest signals are consistency and structure.

One practical example is the way school identity is built through the house system. Students are grouped into four houses with named identities, and the organisational model is designed to make a large 11–16 secondary feel smaller and more knowable. For many students, that matters most in Years 7 and 8, when belonging is often the difference between settling quickly and drifting.

External evidence also points to a calm baseline. Inspectors described behaviour as typically calm, and noted a positive culture where staff and pupils respect each other. That does not mean every lesson is perfect, or that the school is without challenges, but it does suggest a climate where learning is usually protected, and where expectations are understood.

Wellbeing support is visible in the way the school communicates with parents and carers. Alongside the standard safeguarding signposting, the school highlights specific family-facing wellbeing activity through its communications, which signals that pastoral support is designed to be more than reactive.

A final cultural note is the school’s move to a phone-free day using lockable pouches. For some families this will be a clear positive, particularly if attention and online distraction have become a problem at home. For others it will require adjustment, particularly where travel independence depends on phones. Either way, it is a strong signal of how the school wants classrooms and corridors to feel.

On GCSE outcomes, Emerson Park Academy sits in the middle band of schools in England. Ranked 1,984th in England and 15th in Havering for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), performance is consistent with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

At headline level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 47.2. Progress 8 is -0.24, which indicates that, on average, students make slightly less progress than similar pupils nationally between the end of primary school and GCSE. For parents, the key implication is that outcomes can be very dependent on how well a child engages with the school’s expectations and the consistency of teaching across subjects.

EBacc-related measures add useful nuance. The average EBacc APS is 3.96, and 13.8% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure used here. The direction of travel matters as much as the number. The most recent inspection noted that modern foreign language take-up in Years 10 and 11 was low at the time, and that leaders were taking steps to increase language uptake from Year 9 options onwards.

For families comparing nearby schools, the most efficient approach is to use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and Comparison Tool to place this performance picture alongside other Havering secondaries, rather than relying on a single headline score.

The curriculum intent is ambitious in a mainstream comprehensive sense, with students studying the full range of national curriculum subjects for at least three years. The important question is how effectively that intent is delivered day to day, across departments, and for different starting points.

A clear strength is curriculum organisation. The inspection describes a well-ordered curriculum that builds knowledge sequentially, with geography used as a concrete example, revisiting and deepening skills such as grid references over time. For students, the benefit of this approach is cumulative learning, lessons do not feel like disconnected episodes, and recall improves when content is intentionally revisited.

Subject expertise is also a positive theme. Teaching is described as having secure subject knowledge, with new information presented clearly. When this is present consistently, it supports students who need clarity and strong explanation rather than loosely guided discovery.

The main development point is consistency in assessment and expectations. Inspectors noted that assessment practice is uneven, and that in some classes expectations are not high enough, which can limit progress for students who need stretch. The practical implication for parents is that it is worth asking, at open events and in conversation with subject teams, how the school checks understanding and responds when students fall behind, especially in key GCSE subjects.

Emerson Park Academy is an 11–16 school, so every student makes a post-16 move at the end of Year 11. The school positions itself as a feeder to two local providers, Havering Sixth Form College and Havering College of Further and Higher Education, and it advises families to treat autumn-term open events as the main window to explore post-16 options.

The school is also clear about timing. It states that applications for those two local providers should be completed by the end of January, while noting that other sixth forms and colleges set their own deadlines. For families, the implication is simple, the post-16 plan cannot be left to late spring of Year 11, especially where popular courses fill early or require specific GCSE grades.

Careers education is framed as a programme that includes guidance and employer contact. The most useful way to assess impact is to ask how the school supports different pathways, A-level, vocational programmes, and apprenticeships, and how it helps students translate interests into realistic course choices.

Because destination statistics are not published in the data provided here, and because the school is not a sixth form provider, families should treat post-16 fit as a separate choice to get right early. If a child is likely to thrive in a large sixth form college setting, the feeder relationship may be a genuine advantage. If a smaller sixth form or a specialist provider is a better match, it is worth planning visits and application timelines from the start of Year 11.

The academy’s planned admission number for Year 7 entry in September 2026 is 210 places. Where demand exceeds places, the policy allocates 189 places through priority criteria and reserves up to 21 places for aptitude in music and sport, 11 for music and 10 for sport.

The coordinated admissions window for Havering secondary transfer (September 2026 intake) opens on 01 September 2025 and closes on 31 October 2025, with the borough confirming the national offer day as 02 March 2026.

Aptitude places create a meaningful alternative route for families with a child who is genuinely committed to music or sport, but they also introduce additional deadlines. The policy states that the Supplementary Information Form must be returned by Friday 03 October 2025, with aptitude testing scheduled for Saturday 11 October 2025. This is a separate layer on top of the normal local authority application, so families considering this route should treat early autumn of Year 6 as decision time rather than a period for casual browsing.

Demand data supports the view that admission is competitive. In the most recent figures provided for the main entry route, 618 applications were made for 190 offers, with an applications-to-offers ratio of 3.25. Without a published last distance offered figure here, it is not possible to give a meaningful catchment distance guide, so families should rely on the local authority’s coordinated scheme and confirm how distance is measured within the academy’s admissions arrangements.

For families who like to plan precisely, FindMySchoolMap Search is the practical tool for measuring your distance consistently, then comparing it with published admissions criteria and any future distance disclosures from the local authority.

Pastoral support is anchored in PSHE and safeguarding routines. The inspection describes a PSHE programme that teaches equality and respect, and notes that bullying and derogatory language are not tolerated, with incidents taken seriously and addressed.

According to the most recent Ofsted inspection, safeguarding arrangements were effective. Beyond the headline, the report describes practical systems for reporting concerns and working with external agencies where needed, alongside in-school counselling, mentoring and medical support for pupils requiring extra help.

The school’s own safeguarding information identifies the designated safeguarding lead and deputy arrangements clearly, which is often a proxy for how easy it is for pupils and parents to find the right support route quickly. For families, the best question to ask is not whether safeguarding exists, it does, but how pastoral teams coordinate support when attendance, behaviour, and mental health pressures overlap, particularly in Years 9 to 11.

Extracurricular provision is one of the school’s clearest differentiators, because it is supported by facilities and by a timetable that includes before-school, lunchtime and after-school options across the week.

Sport

The sports offer is unusually well specified for a state secondary. Indoor provision includes a full-size multi-functional sports hall with four badminton courts and marked areas for basketball, volleyball and indoor hockey; a separate gymnasium used for gymnastics and dance; and an interactive rowing corridor with seven Concept2 rowing machines. Outdoor facilities include three MUGAs, a full-size astro turf area marked as three seven-a-side pitches, multiple football pitches, junior and senior rugby pitches (with the junior pitch floodlit), and a full-size grass cricket square and outfield.

The implication is not just more teams, it is more opportunity for different types of student to find a sport that fits. A child who does not enjoy traditional team games may respond to rowing, badminton, gymnastics or fitness training, and those options are present in the infrastructure.

The school also describes formal links with community clubs, including a badminton club that operates on site after school, West Ham United Foundation soccer schools on the astro turf, and a gymnastics club running sessions in the gymnasium. For students, that kind of link matters because it can reduce friction between school sport and community pathways, and can make progression to higher-level coaching more straightforward for motivated young people.

Arts, performance and student-led interests

Arts and performance opportunities are similarly concrete. LAMDA lessons are offered as an extra-curricular option, designed around graded acting exams and confidence-building performance practice. Music activity also shows up in the club programme through Music Tech and a Vocal Group, alongside a Ukulele lunchtime option.

What is most distinctive is the breadth of student-led interest clubs that many schools struggle to sustain. The published clubs list includes Dungeons & Dragons (for both KS3 and KS4 year groups), Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, Board Games, and an EPA Debate Society. The educational value is not only social, it is also about language, reasoning, and confidence. Debate club supports structured argument and presentation; strategy games reward planning and resilience; role-play groups give quieter students a route into friendships through shared narrative.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is also offered at Bronze level, with an explicit expectation of commitment and a structured after-school training cycle for expedition preparation. For Year 10 students who benefit from externally recognised goals, this can provide a strong organising framework in the run-up to GCSE years.

The published school day timings (for 2025–26) show registration from 08:40 to 09:05, with Period 5 running from 14:10 to 15:10. Pupils are expected to arrive on site no earlier than 08:05 and no later than 08:35.

For travel, the school publishes information on local bus access and highlights that parking restrictions operate on Wych Elm Road at peak times, which is relevant for drop-off planning and for students arriving independently.

• Admission is the obstacle. Demand is high, with 618 applications for 190 offers in the most recent entry-route figures provided, so families should approach the process with alternatives in mind.

• Progress is slightly below average. A Progress 8 score of -0.24 suggests some cohorts do not make as much progress as similar pupils nationally, so it is worth probing how the school targets consistency across subjects.

• EBacc language uptake has been a development area. The latest inspection identified low modern foreign language participation in Years 10 and 11 at the time, alongside actions to increase take-up. Families prioritising languages should ask how this now looks in Year 9 options.

• All students move on at 16. With no sixth form, the post-16 plan needs attention from the start of Year 11, including application deadlines and open-event visits.

Emerson Park Academy offers a structured, sport-forward comprehensive experience with clear pastoral systems and a strong extracurricular identity. It suits families who value a traditional school framework, including houses and clear expectations, and who want tangible opportunities in sport, performance and enrichment clubs. The main challenge is securing a place, particularly for families relying on distance-based allocation rather than the music or sport aptitude route.