Ark Alexandra Academy
Park Avenue, William Parker Campus, Hastings, TN34 2PG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Principal
- Mr Alex Birks-Agnew/ Mr Tommy Ittu
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Diocese
- Diocese of Chichester
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Hastings and Rye
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,800
- Pupils on roll
- 1,315
- URN
- 139821
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01424439888
About this school
Ark Alexandra Academy is a Church of England secondary academy in Hastings. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,315 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
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 263 | 258 | 221 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.4 | 38.4 | 42.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.87 -1.04 to -0.69 | -0.79 -0.97 to -0.61 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 32.6% | 40.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 51.6% | 65.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 17% | 22.5% | 19.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
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 Ark Alexandra 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 | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.4 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.4 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.6 | 33.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,557 |
| 2023/24 | 1,552 |
| 2024/25 | 1,431 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Alexandra Academy compares
Ark Alexandra Academy ranked 14th of 22 secondary schools in East Sussex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.6 | 9% | 33.8% | 1,315 | — |
| Mulberry Academy Hastings | 38.2 | 10.2% | 45.8% | 833 | 2.0 miles |
| Mulberry Academy St Leonards | — | — | — | — | 2.0 miles |
| St Richard's Catholic College | — | — | — | 1,029 | 4.2 miles |
| Bexhill High Academy | 41.7 | 8.9% | 31.1% | 1,441 | 5.2 miles |
| Claverham Community College | 50.3 | 7.2% | 20.6% | 1,147 | 5.2 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)
- 33.76%
- English as an additional language
- 13.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.95%
- Persistent absence
- 27.93%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mulberry Academy Hastings2.0 miles
Secondary · Hastings
-
Mulberry Academy St Leonards2.0 miles
Secondary · St Leonards-on-Sea
-
St Richard's Catholic College4.2 miles
Secondary · Bexhill-on-Sea
-
Bexhill High Academy5.2 miles
Secondary · Bexhill-on-Sea
-
Claverham Community College5.2 miles
Secondary · Battle
Other schools in Hastings
- Mulberry Academy Hastings Secondary
- All Saints CofE Junior Academy Primary
- Ark Blacklands Primary Academy Primary
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy Primary
- Christ Church CofE Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Dudley Infant Academy Primary
- Guestling Bradshaw Church of England Primary School Primary
- Mulberry Baird Primary Primary
- Ore Village Primary Academy Primary
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Primary
- Sandown Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Westfield School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ark Alexandra Academy teach?
- Ark Alexandra Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Hastings.
- Who is the principal of Ark Alexandra Academy?
- The principal of Ark Alexandra Academy is Mr Alex Birks-Agnew/ Mr Tommy Ittu, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark Alexandra Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Alexandra 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 Ark Alexandra Academy?
- Ark Alexandra Academy has 1,315 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ark Alexandra Academy full?
- Ark Alexandra Academy has capacity for 1,800 pupils and 1,315 on roll (73%), 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 Ark Alexandra Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Ark Alexandra Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Chichester.
- Is Ark Alexandra Academy a selective school?
- No. Ark Alexandra Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ark Alexandra Academy?
- Ark Alexandra Academy is part of ARK SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ark Alexandra Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.4 in 2022/23 and 42.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ark Alexandra Academy rank locally?
- Ark Alexandra Academy ranked 14th of 22 secondary schools in East Sussex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ark Alexandra Academy's absence rate?
- Ark Alexandra Academy's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Alexandra Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Alexandra 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.