Leigh Academy Mascalls
Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, TN12 6LT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Jo Brooks
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Leigh Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Tunbridge Wells
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,450
- Pupils on roll
- 1,227
- URN
- 136847
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01892835366
About this school
Leigh Academy Mascalls is a secondary academy in Tonbridge. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,227 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 235 | 228 | 195 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.9 | 41.5 | 40.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.11 -0.29 to +0.08 | -0.17 -0.36 to +0.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 34.2% | 34.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 56.6% | 51.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 25.4% | 46.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
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 Leigh Academy Mascalls 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 | 41.9 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.5 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.4 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,356 |
| 2023/24 | 1,320 |
| 2024/25 | 1,238 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Leigh Academy Mascalls compares
Leigh Academy Mascalls ranked 59th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.4 | 7.7% | 25.7% | 1,227 | — |
| Hadlow Rural Community School | 36.3 | 12.8% | 31.2% | 377 | 4.5 miles |
| Skinners' Kent Academy | 38.4 | 8% | 31.1% | 1,017 | 4.6 miles |
| Hillview School for Girls | 48 | 9.7% | 16.8% | 1,500 | 4.7 miles |
| Weald of Kent Grammar School | 70 | 6.8% | 4% | 1,913 | 4.8 miles |
| Tonbridge Grammar School | 77.2 | 5.8% | 2.2% | 1,150 | 5.1 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)
- 25.72%
- English as an additional language
- 4.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.65%
- Persistent absence
- 24.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hadlow Rural Community School4.5 miles
Secondary · Hadlow
-
Skinners' Kent Academy4.6 miles
Secondary · Tunbridge Wells
-
Hillview School for Girls4.7 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
Weald of Kent Grammar School4.8 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
Tonbridge Grammar School5.1 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
Other schools in Tonbridge
Leigh Academy Mascalls ranks 7th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Tonbridge.
- Hillview School for Girls Secondary
- Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Secondary
- Leigh Academy Tonbridge Secondary
- The Judd School Secondary
- Tonbridge Grammar School Secondary
- Weald of Kent Grammar School Secondary
- Bishop Chavasse Primary School Primary
- Brenchley and Matfield Church of England Primary School Primary
- Cage Green Primary School Primary
- Capel Primary School Primary
- East Peckham Primary School Primary
- Hadlow Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Leigh Academy Mascalls teach?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Tonbridge.
- Who is the principal of Leigh Academy Mascalls?
- The principal of Leigh Academy Mascalls is Mrs Jo Brooks, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Leigh Academy Mascalls last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Leigh Academy Mascalls, 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 Leigh Academy Mascalls?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls has 1,227 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Leigh Academy Mascalls full?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls has capacity for 1,450 pupils and 1,227 on roll (85%), 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 Leigh Academy Mascalls a faith school?
- No. Leigh Academy Mascalls has no designated religious character.
- Is Leigh Academy Mascalls a selective school?
- No. Leigh Academy Mascalls is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Leigh Academy Mascalls?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls is part of LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Leigh Academy Mascalls's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.9 in 2022/23 and 40.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Leigh Academy Mascalls rank locally?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls ranked 59th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 19% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Leigh Academy Mascalls's absence rate?
- Leigh Academy Mascalls's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Leigh Academy Mascalls's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Leigh Academy Mascalls'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.