The Excelsior Academy
Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, London, E8 2EY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Omar Deria
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Community Schools Trust
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,080
- Pupils on roll
- 983
- URN
- 131062
- Local authority
- Hackney
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02072751500
About this school
The Excelsior Academy is a secondary academy in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 983 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 173 | 176 | 177 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.4 | 49.5 | 44.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.05 -0.16 to +0.27 | +0.46 +0.24 to +0.67 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 47.7% | 39.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 68.2% | 60.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 76% | 30.1% | 86.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Excelsior Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hackney average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48.4 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.5 | 40.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.7 | 41.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,036 |
| 2023/24 | 1,003 |
| 2024/25 | 992 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Excelsior Academy compares
The Excelsior Academy ranked 11th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.7 | 8.7% | 61.7% | 983 | — |
| Mossbourne Community Academy | 65.1 | 4.3% | 51.3% | 1,432 | 0.4 miles |
| Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form | 48.4 | 8.7% | 41.1% | 1,665 | 0.7 miles |
| Clapton Girls' Academy | 59.4 | 7.2% | 38.8% | 1,169 | 0.9 miles |
| The Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary School | 39.2 | 10.5% | 70.5% | 752 | 0.9 miles |
| Waterside Academy | 44.6 | 7.8% | 64.4% | 351 | 0.9 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 61.72%
- English as an additional language
- 46.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.73%
- Persistent absence
- 27.46%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mossbourne Community Academy0.4 miles
Secondary · London
-
Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form0.7 miles
Secondary · London
-
Clapton Girls' Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
The Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary School0.9 miles
Secondary · London
-
Waterside Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in London
The Excelsior Academy ranks 198th of the 258 ranked secondary schools in London.
- Acland Burghley School Secondary
- Ada Lovelace Church of England High School Secondary
- Addey and Stanhope School Secondary
- AIM Academy North London Secondary
- Alexandra Park School Secondary
- All Saints Catholic College Secondary
- All Saints Catholic High School Secondary
- Ark Acton Academy Secondary
- Ark All Saints Academy Secondary
- Ark Bolingbroke Academy Secondary
- Ark Burlington Danes Academy Secondary
- Ark Elvin Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Excelsior Academy teach?
- The Excelsior Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in London.
- Who is the principal of The Excelsior Academy?
- The principal of The Excelsior Academy is Mr Omar Deria, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Excelsior Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Excelsior Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is The Excelsior Academy?
- The Excelsior Academy has 983 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Excelsior Academy full?
- The Excelsior Academy has capacity for 1,080 pupils and 983 on roll (91%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Excelsior Academy a faith school?
- No. The Excelsior Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Excelsior Academy a selective school?
- No. The Excelsior Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Excelsior Academy?
- The Excelsior Academy is part of COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Excelsior Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Excelsior Academy's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Excelsior Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.4 in 2022/23 and 44.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Excelsior Academy rank locally?
- The Excelsior Academy ranked 11th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Excelsior Academy's absence rate?
- The Excelsior Academy's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Excelsior Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Excelsior Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.