Heron Academy
Heron Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0HZ
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LONDON SOUTH EAST ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Melanie Hall-Judd
- Sponsor
- Bromley College of Further and Higher Education
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Dulwich and West Norwood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 90
- Pupils on roll
- 86
- URN
- 149331
- Local authority
- Lambeth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02073265898
About this school
Heron Academy is a special academy in London. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 86 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Heron Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 9 | 9 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - |
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 Heron 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 17.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 79 |
| 2024/25 | 81 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report12 May 2026
- 10 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 83.67%
- English as an additional language
- 32.1%
- Overall absence
- 17.73%
- Persistent absence
- 43.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Herne Hill School0.5 miles
Independent schools · London
-
The Hospital and Home Tuition Sick Children's Service0.6 miles
Other types · London
-
Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital School0.7 miles
Academies · London
-
James Allen's Girls' School0.8 miles
Independent schools · London
-
Lansdowne School0.9 miles
Special schools · London
Other schools in London
- Abbey Manor College Local authority maintained schools
- Abingdon House School Special schools
- Ambitious College Other types
- Area 51 Education Ltd Other types
- Beatrice Tate School Special schools
- Beckmead College Academies
- Belmont Park School Special schools
- Beormund Primary School Special schools
- BeyondAutism Post-19 Other types
- Blanche Nevile School Special schools
- Blossom Rose School Special schools
- Brent Knoll School Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does Heron Academy teach?
- Heron Academy teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in London.
- Who is the headteacher of Heron Academy?
- The headteacher of Heron Academy is Ms Melanie Hall-Judd, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Heron Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Heron 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 Heron Academy?
- Heron Academy has 86 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Heron Academy full?
- Heron Academy has capacity for 90 pupils and 86 on roll (96%), 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 Heron Academy a faith school?
- No. Heron Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Heron Academy part of an academy trust?
- Heron Academy is part of LONDON SOUTH EAST ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Heron Academy have?
- The schools register lists Heron Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is Heron Academy's absence rate?
- Heron Academy's overall absence rate is 17.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Heron Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Heron 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 15 July 2026.