Orchards Academy
St Mary's Road, Swanley, BR8 7TE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Hannah Carter
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Kemnal Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Sevenoaks
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 828
- Pupils on roll
- 554
- URN
- 136304
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01322665231
About this school
Orchards Academy is a secondary academy in Swanley. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 554 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 112 | 106 | 88 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.4 | 40.9 | 41.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.08 -0.34 to +0.19 | +0.03 -0.25 to +0.30 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 28.3% | 33% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 58.5% | 62.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 0.9% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
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 Orchards 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41.4 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.9 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.3 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 585 |
| 2023/24 | 551 |
| 2024/25 | 545 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Orchards Academy compares
Orchards Academy ranked 52nd of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.3 | 10.1% | 44.8% | 554 | — |
| Leigh Academy Wilmington | 45.4 | 8% | 22.7% | 1,386 | 2.4 miles |
| Wilmington Grammar School for Boys | 64.6 | 5.4% | 11.3% | 1,174 | 2.5 miles |
| Wilmington Grammar School for Girls | 66.7 | 4.8% | 7.4% | 1,154 | 2.6 miles |
| Harris Academy Orpington | 42.7 | 7.8% | 53.5% | 499 | 2.8 miles |
| Kemnal Technology College | 29.3 | 15.1% | 50.9% | 439 | 2.8 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.77%
- English as an additional language
- 8.4%
- Overall absence
- 10.11%
- Persistent absence
- 32.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Leigh Academy Wilmington2.4 miles
Secondary · Wilmington
-
Wilmington Grammar School for Boys2.5 miles
Secondary · Dartford
-
Wilmington Grammar School for Girls2.6 miles
Secondary · Dartford
-
Harris Academy Orpington2.8 miles
Secondary
-
Kemnal Technology College2.8 miles
Secondary · Sidcup
Other schools in Swanley
- Downsview Community Primary School Primary
- Hextable Primary School Primary
- High Firs Primary School Primary
- Horizon Primary Academy Primary
- St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary School, Swanley Primary
- St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy Academies
- SupaJam Education In Music and Media Other types
- The Annex School House Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Orchards Academy teach?
- Orchards Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Swanley.
- Who is the headteacher of Orchards Academy?
- The headteacher of Orchards Academy is Mrs Hannah Carter, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Orchards Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Orchards 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 Orchards Academy?
- Orchards Academy has 554 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Orchards Academy full?
- Orchards Academy has capacity for 828 pupils and 554 on roll (67%), 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 Orchards Academy a faith school?
- No. Orchards Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Orchards Academy a selective school?
- No. Orchards Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Orchards Academy?
- Orchards Academy is part of THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Orchards Academy have?
- The schools register lists Orchards Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Orchards Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.4 in 2022/23 and 41.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Orchards Academy rank locally?
- Orchards Academy ranked 52nd of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Orchards Academy's absence rate?
- Orchards Academy's overall absence rate is 10.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Orchards Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Orchards 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 1 July 2026.