Burnt Mill Academy
First Avenue, Harlow, CM20 2NR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- BMAT EDUCATION
- Head Teacher
- Ms Laura McGlashan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- BMAT Education
- Constituency
- Harlow
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 959
- URN
- 137694
- Local authority
- Essex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279300555
About this school
Burnt Mill Academy is a secondary academy in Harlow. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 959 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Burnt Mill Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 223 | 182 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 44.6 | 45.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.19 -0.37 to 0.00 | -0.21 -0.42 to 0.00 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 47.3% | 44.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 62.1% | 60.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 60% | 30.8% | 34.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.0 | 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 Burnt Mill 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 | Essex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.3 | 43.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.6 | 41.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.2 | 42.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,086 |
| 2023/24 | 987 |
| 2024/25 | 951 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Burnt Mill Academy compares
Burnt Mill Academy ranked 36th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% 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 | 45.2 | 8.6% | 31.3% | 959 | — |
| Bmat Stem Academy | 28.1 | 14.3% | 38.7% | 240 | 0.6 miles |
| St Mark's West Essex Catholic School | 46.3 | 6.7% | 22.1% | 1,099 | 0.9 miles |
| Mark Hall Academy | 38.9 | 9.9% | 30.8% | 867 | 1.0 miles |
| Sir Frederick Gibberd College | 44 | 8.8% | 29% | 880 | 1.3 miles |
| Passmores Academy | 34.8 | 11.7% | 31.9% | 1,199 | 1.5 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)
- 31.34%
- English as an additional language
- 17.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.58%
- Persistent absence
- 23.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bmat Stem Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Harlow
-
St Mark's West Essex Catholic School0.9 miles
Secondary · Harlow
-
Mark Hall Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Harlow
-
Sir Frederick Gibberd College1.3 miles
Secondary · Harlow
-
Passmores Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Harlow
Other schools in Harlow
Burnt Mill Academy ranks 2nd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Harlow.
- Bmat Stem Academy Secondary
- Mark Hall Academy Secondary
- Passmores Academy Secondary
- Sir Frederick Gibberd College Secondary
- St Mark's West Essex Catholic School Secondary
- Stewards Academy - Science Specialist, Harlow Secondary
- Abbotsweld Primary Academy Primary
- Church Langley Community Primary School Primary
- Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Harlow Primary
- Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Freshwaters Primary Academy Primary
- Hare Street Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Burnt Mill Academy teach?
- Burnt Mill Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Harlow.
- Who is the head teacher of Burnt Mill Academy?
- The head teacher of Burnt Mill Academy is Ms Laura McGlashan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Burnt Mill Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Burnt Mill 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 many pupils are at Burnt Mill Academy?
- Burnt Mill Academy has 959 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Burnt Mill Academy full?
- Burnt Mill Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 959 on roll (80%), 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 Burnt Mill Academy a faith school?
- No. Burnt Mill Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Burnt Mill Academy a selective school?
- No. Burnt Mill Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Burnt Mill Academy part of an academy trust?
- Burnt Mill Academy is part of BMAT EDUCATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Burnt Mill Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.3 in 2022/23 and 45.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Burnt Mill Academy compare with other schools in Essex?
- Burnt Mill Academy ranked 36th of 78 secondary schools in Essex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 58% 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 Burnt Mill Academy's absence rate?
- Burnt Mill Academy's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Burnt Mill Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Burnt Mill 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.