Rushey Mead Academy
Melton Road, Leicester, LE4 7AN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE MEAD EDUCATIONAL TRUST
- Principal
- Ms Victoria Barwell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Mead Educational Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Leicester East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,620
- Pupils on roll
- 1,804
- URN
- 141916
- Local authority
- Leicester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01162663730
About this school
Rushey Mead Academy is a secondary academy in Leicester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,804 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 382 | 327 | 322 |
| Attainment 8 score | 55.7 | 54.4 | 51.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +1.09 +0.94 to +1.24 | +0.90 +0.74 to +1.05 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 59.6% | 51.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 78% | 64.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 86% | 86.2% | 81.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.1 |
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 Rushey Mead 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 | Leicester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55.7 | 40.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.4 | 42.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.6 | 46.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,683 |
| 2023/24 | 1,744 |
| 2024/25 | 1,779 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Rushey Mead Academy compares
Rushey Mead Academy ranked 7th of 19 secondary schools in Leicester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.6 | 5.7% | 22.4% | 1,804 | — |
| Soar Valley College | 51.5 | 5.4% | 30.5% | 1,564 | 0.3 miles |
| The Cedars Academy | 45.1 | 7.9% | 22.3% | 985 | 1.7 miles |
| The Roundhill Academy | 45.9 | 9.3% | 21.4% | 686 | 1.9 miles |
| Babington Academy | 38 | 11.2% | 47.9% | 1,339 | 2.0 miles |
| Moat Community College | 44.6 | 8.9% | 37.1% | 1,091 | 2.1 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.43%
- English as an additional language
- 89.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.69%
- Persistent absence
- 16.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Soar Valley College0.3 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
The Cedars Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
The Roundhill Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
Babington Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
Moat Community College2.1 miles
Secondary · Leicester
Other schools in Leicester
Rushey Mead Academy ranks 10th of the 33 ranked secondary schools in Leicester.
- Babington Academy Secondary
- Beauchamp College Secondary
- Beaumont Leys School Secondary
- Bosworth Academy Secondary
- Brockington College Secondary
- Brook Mead Academy Secondary
- Brookvale Groby Learning Campus Secondary
- Castle Mead Academy Secondary
- Crown Hills Community College Secondary
- English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Fullhurst Community College Secondary
- Gartree High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Rushey Mead Academy teach?
- Rushey Mead Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Leicester.
- Who is the principal of Rushey Mead Academy?
- The principal of Rushey Mead Academy is Ms Victoria Barwell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Rushey Mead Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Rushey Mead 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 Rushey Mead Academy?
- Rushey Mead Academy has 1,804 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Rushey Mead Academy full?
- Rushey Mead Academy has capacity for 1,620 pupils and 1,804 on roll (111%), so it is at or above 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 Rushey Mead Academy a faith school?
- No. Rushey Mead Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Rushey Mead Academy a selective school?
- No. Rushey Mead Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Rushey Mead Academy?
- Rushey Mead Academy is part of THE MEAD EDUCATIONAL TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Rushey Mead Academy have?
- The schools register lists Rushey Mead Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Rushey Mead Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 55.7 in 2022/23 and 51.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Rushey Mead Academy rank locally?
- Rushey Mead Academy ranked 7th of 19 secondary schools in Leicester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 45% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Rushey Mead Academy's absence rate?
- Rushey Mead Academy's overall absence rate is 5.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Rushey Mead Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Rushey Mead 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 2 July 2026.