Babington Academy
Strasbourg Drive, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, LE4 0SZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- LEARNING WITHOUT LIMITS ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Fiona Laywood
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Learning Without Limits
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Leicester West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,380
- Pupils on roll
- 1,339
- URN
- 143247
- Local authority
- Leicester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01162221616
About this school
Babington Academy is a secondary academy in Leicester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,339 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
- 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 | 264 | 264 | 270 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.1 | 33.9 | 38.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.53 -0.70 to -0.35 | -0.80 -0.97 to -0.62 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 22.7% | 30.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 43% | 43.6% | 51.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 9.5% | 11.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
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 Babington 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 | 37.1 | 40.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.9 | 42.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38 | 46.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,344 |
| 2023/24 | 1,348 |
| 2024/25 | 1,346 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Babington Academy compares
Babington Academy ranked 17th of 19 secondary schools in Leicester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38 | 11.2% | 47.9% | 1,339 | — |
| Beaumont Leys School | 45.2 | 8.6% | 32.7% | 1,062 | 0.4 miles |
| English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy | 54 | 4.3% | 16% | 1,143 | 0.7 miles |
| Brook Mead Academy | — | 6.2% | 28.8% | 1,104 | 1.2 miles |
| The Herewoode Academy | — | — | — | 979 | 1.5 miles |
| The Martin High School Anstey | 44.6 | 8.2% | 16.6% | 781 | 1.8 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)
- 47.92%
- English as an additional language
- 49.6%
- Overall absence
- 11.17%
- Persistent absence
- 30.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beaumont Leys School0.4 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
Brook Mead Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
The Herewoode Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Leicester
-
The Martin High School Anstey1.8 miles
Secondary · Leicester
Other schools in Leicester
Babington Academy ranks 30th of the 33 ranked secondary schools in Leicester.
- 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
- Heath Lane Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Babington Academy teach?
- Babington Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Leicester.
- Who is the principal of Babington Academy?
- The principal of Babington Academy is Mrs Fiona Laywood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Babington Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Babington 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 Babington Academy?
- Babington Academy has 1,339 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Babington Academy full?
- Babington Academy has capacity for 1,380 pupils and 1,339 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Babington Academy a faith school?
- No. Babington Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Babington Academy a selective school?
- No. Babington Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Babington Academy?
- Babington Academy is part of LEARNING WITHOUT LIMITS ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Babington Academy have?
- The schools register lists Babington 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 Babington Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.1 in 2022/23 and 38 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Babington Academy rank locally?
- Babington Academy ranked 17th of 19 secondary schools in Leicester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Babington Academy's absence rate?
- Babington Academy's overall absence rate is 11.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Babington Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Babington 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.