Ark Pioneer Academy
Westcombe Drive, Barnet, EN5 2BE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Ms Su Reddy
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Chipping Barnet
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,107
- URN
- 147061
- Local authority
- Barnet
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02037874090
About this school
Ark Pioneer Academy is a secondary academy in Barnet. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,107 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 176 | 177 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.3 | 56.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.57 +0.35 to +0.79 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 65.9% | 61.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 81.8% | 79.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 83.5% | 86.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.6 |
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 Pioneer 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 | Barnet average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 47.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.3 | 49.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56 | 46.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 720 |
| 2023/24 | 896 |
| 2024/25 | 998 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Pioneer Academy compares
Ark Pioneer Academy ranked 15th of 27 secondary schools in Barnet for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56 | 6.8% | 40% | 1,107 | — |
| Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School | 58.6 | 7.1% | 22.9% | 1,078 | 0.4 miles |
| The Totteridge Academy | 58.2 | 8.2% | 32.3% | 1,008 | 0.6 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet | 85.6 | 3.3% | 4.2% | 1,321 | 1.1 miles |
| JCoSS | 60.9 | 8.1% | 5% | 1,356 | 1.1 miles |
| East Barnet School | 53 | 7.9% | 22.6% | 1,448 | 1.6 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)
- 40%
- English as an additional language
- 33.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.84%
- Persistent absence
- 17.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School0.4 miles
Secondary · Barnet
-
The Totteridge Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · London
-
Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet1.1 miles
Secondary · Barnet
-
JCoSS1.1 miles
Secondary · New Barnet
-
East Barnet School1.6 miles
Secondary · Barnet
Other schools in Barnet
Ark Pioneer Academy ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Barnet.
- East Barnet School Secondary
- Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School Secondary
- Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet Secondary
- Southgate School Secondary
- Brookhill Nursery School Nursery
- St Margaret's Nursery School Nursery
- Christ Church Primary School Primary
- Church Hill School Primary
- Cromer Road Primary School Primary
- Danegrove Primary School Primary
- Foulds School Primary
- Hadley Wood Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ark Pioneer Academy teach?
- Ark Pioneer Academy teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Barnet.
- Who is the headteacher of Ark Pioneer Academy?
- The headteacher of Ark Pioneer Academy is Ms Su Reddy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark Pioneer Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Pioneer 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 Pioneer Academy?
- Ark Pioneer Academy has 1,107 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Ark Pioneer Academy full?
- Ark Pioneer Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,107 on roll (92%), 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 Pioneer Academy a faith school?
- No. Ark Pioneer Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Ark Pioneer Academy a selective school?
- No. Ark Pioneer Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ark Pioneer Academy?
- Ark Pioneer 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 Pioneer Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54.3 in 2023/24 and 56 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 Pioneer Academy rank locally?
- Ark Pioneer Academy ranked 15th of 27 secondary schools in Barnet for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% 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 Pioneer Academy's absence rate?
- Ark Pioneer Academy's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Pioneer Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Pioneer 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 10 July 2026.