Welling School
Elsa Road, Welling, DA16 1LB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Brian Griffen
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Kemnal Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Old Bexley and Sidcup
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,850
- Pupils on roll
- 1,084
- URN
- 136720
- Local authority
- Bexley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02083048531
About this school
Welling School is a secondary academy in Welling. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,084 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 283 | 242 | 191 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.7 | 36.7 | 34.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.97 -1.14 to -0.80 | -0.82 -1.00 to -0.64 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 29.3% | 26.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 54.1% | 47.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 16% | 19% | 11% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
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 Welling School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bexley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33.7 | 44 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.7 | 44.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.7 | 42 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,345 |
| 2023/24 | 1,145 |
| 2024/25 | 1,087 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Welling School compares
Welling School ranked 15th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.7 | 12.2% | 34.9% | 1,084 | — |
| Bexley Grammar School | 74.7 | 5% | 4.2% | 1,504 | 0.8 miles |
| Harris Academy Falconwood | 47.3 | 6.4% | 19.7% | 1,295 | 1.3 miles |
| Blackfen School for Girls | 44.1 | 9.8% | 19.4% | 1,324 | 1.3 miles |
| Lift Bexleyheath | 41.1 | 8% | 27.6% | 1,474 | 1.5 miles |
| Plumstead Manor School | 33.4 | 10.2% | 45.8% | 1,413 | 1.6 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
-
Graded inspection report10 February 2026
- 4 October 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 34.85%
- English as an additional language
- 14%
- Overall absence
- 12.15%
- Persistent absence
- 39.59%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bexley Grammar School0.8 miles
Secondary · Welling
-
Harris Academy Falconwood1.3 miles
Secondary · Welling
-
Blackfen School for Girls1.3 miles
Secondary · Sidcup
-
Lift Bexleyheath1.5 miles
Secondary · Bexleyheath
-
Plumstead Manor School1.6 miles
Secondary · London
Other schools in Welling
- Bexley Grammar School Secondary
- Harris Academy Falconwood Secondary
- Bishop Ridley Church of England VA Primary School Primary
- Danson Primary School Primary
- East Wickham Primary Academy Primary
- Foster's Primary School Primary
- Hillsgrove Primary School Primary
- Hook Lane Primary School Primary
- Leigh Stationers' Primary Academy Primary
- St Michael's East Wickham Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary School Primary
- ADO River Valley School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Welling School teach?
- Welling School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Welling.
- Who is the headteacher of Welling School?
- The headteacher of Welling School is Mr Brian Griffen, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Welling School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Welling School, 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 Welling School?
- Welling School has 1,084 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Welling School full?
- Welling School has capacity for 1,850 pupils and 1,084 on roll (59%), 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 Welling School a faith school?
- No. Welling School has no designated religious character.
- Is Welling School a selective school?
- No. Welling School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Welling School?
- Welling School 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 Welling School have?
- The schools register lists Welling School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Welling School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.7 in 2022/23 and 34.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Welling School rank locally?
- Welling School ranked 15th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Welling School's absence rate?
- Welling School's overall absence rate is 12.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Welling School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Welling School'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.