Leigh Academy Bexley
Avenue Road, Erith, DA8 3BN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- LEIGH ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr John Dixon
- Sponsor
- Leigh Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Bexleyheath and Crayford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,050
- Pupils on roll
- 873
- URN
- 149898
- Local authority
- Bexley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01322348231
About this school
Leigh Academy Bexley is a secondary academy in Erith. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 873 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
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Not effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as King Henry School (URN 146378).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 266 | 158 |
| Attainment 8 score | 32.7 | 35.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.95 -1.12 to -0.78 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 24.8% | 26.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42.9% | 43.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15.4% | 3.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 3.0 |
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 Leigh Academy Bexley has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Bexley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 44 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.7 | 44.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.4 | 42 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,042 |
| 2024/25 | 888 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Leigh Academy Bexley compares
Leigh Academy Bexley ranked 14th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.4 | 10.2% | 47.2% | 873 | — |
| Trinity Church of England School, Belvedere | 34.1 | 10.9% | 37.1% | 1,028 | 0.8 miles |
| Lift Bexleyheath | 41.1 | 8% | 27.6% | 1,474 | 1.4 miles |
| St Catherine's Catholic School | 55.1 | 5% | 20.4% | 1,021 | 1.4 miles |
| Haberdashers' Crayford Academy | 45.2 | 7.8% | 36.1% | 1,078 | 1.5 miles |
| St Columba's Catholic Boys' School | 51.4 | 5.3% | 23.1% | 805 | 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)
- 47.17%
- English as an additional language
- 19.3%
- Overall absence
- 10.21%
- Persistent absence
- 33.67%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Trinity Church of England School, Belvedere0.8 miles
Secondary · Belvedere
-
Lift Bexleyheath1.4 miles
Secondary · Bexleyheath
-
St Catherine's Catholic School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bexleyheath
-
Haberdashers' Crayford Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Dartford
-
St Columba's Catholic Boys' School1.6 miles
Secondary · Bexleyheath
Other schools in Erith
- Barnehurst Infant School Primary
- Barnehurst Junior School Primary
- Belmont Academy Primary
- Christ Church (Erith) CofE Primary School Primary
- Haberdashers' Slade Green Primary Primary
- Lime Wood Primary School Primary
- Northumberland Heath Primary School Primary
- Northwood Primary School Primary
- Parkway Primary School Primary
- Peareswood Primary School Primary
- St Fidelis Catholic Primary School Primary
- St John Fisher Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Leigh Academy Bexley teach?
- Leigh Academy Bexley teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Erith.
- Who is the headteacher of Leigh Academy Bexley?
- The headteacher of Leigh Academy Bexley is Mr John Dixon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Leigh Academy Bexley last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Leigh Academy Bexley, 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 Leigh Academy Bexley?
- Leigh Academy Bexley has 873 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Leigh Academy Bexley full?
- Leigh Academy Bexley has capacity for 2,050 pupils and 873 on roll (43%), 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 Leigh Academy Bexley a faith school?
- No. Leigh Academy Bexley has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Leigh Academy Bexley?
- Leigh Academy Bexley is part of LEIGH 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 Leigh Academy Bexley have?
- The schools register lists Leigh Academy Bexley's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Leigh Academy Bexley's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 32.7 in 2023/24 and 35.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Leigh Academy Bexley rank locally?
- Leigh Academy Bexley ranked 14th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Leigh Academy Bexley's absence rate?
- Leigh Academy Bexley's overall absence rate is 10.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Leigh Academy Bexley's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Leigh Academy Bexley'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.