Hurstmere School
Hurst Road, Sidcup, DA15 9AW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE HOWARD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Lynn Bennett
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Howard Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Old Bexley and Sidcup
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,065
- Pupils on roll
- 893
- URN
- 151382
- Local authority
- Bexley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02083005665
About this school
Hurstmere School is a boys' secondary academy in Sidcup. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 893 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Hurstmere School (URN 137368).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 195 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.1 |
| Progress 8 score | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 |
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 Hurstmere School 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 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
How Hurstmere School compares
Hurstmere School ranked 11th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.1 | 7.2% | 16.9% | 893 | — |
| Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School | 75.6 | 3.8% | 4.8% | 1,561 | 0.3 miles |
| Cleeve Park School | 39.7 | 8.6% | 34.6% | 994 | 0.7 miles |
| Blackfen School for Girls | 44.1 | 9.8% | 19.4% | 1,324 | 0.7 miles |
| Bexley Grammar School | 74.7 | 5% | 4.2% | 1,504 | 1.3 miles |
| Townley Grammar School | 75 | 3.8% | 11.4% | 1,669 | 1.4 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)
- 16.89%
- English as an additional language
- 8%
- Overall absence
- 7.19%
- Persistent absence
- 19.61%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School0.3 miles
Secondary · Sidcup
-
Cleeve Park School0.7 miles
Secondary · Sidcup
-
Blackfen School for Girls0.7 miles
Secondary · Sidcup
-
Bexley Grammar School1.3 miles
Secondary · Welling
-
Townley Grammar School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bexleyheath
Other schools in Sidcup
Hurstmere School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Sidcup.
- Blackfen School for Girls Secondary
- Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Secondary
- Cleeve Park School Secondary
- Kemnal Technology College Secondary
- Birkbeck Primary School Primary
- Burnt Oak Junior School Primary
- Chatsworth Infant School Primary
- Days Lane Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School Primary
- Hope Community School Primary
- Longlands Primary School Primary
- Orchard Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Hurstmere School teach?
- Hurstmere School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Sidcup.
- Who is the headteacher of Hurstmere School?
- The headteacher of Hurstmere School is Lynn Bennett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hurstmere School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hurstmere School, 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 Hurstmere School?
- Hurstmere School has 893 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Hurstmere School full?
- Hurstmere School has capacity for 1,065 pupils and 893 on roll (84%), 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 Hurstmere School a faith school?
- No. Hurstmere School has no designated religious character.
- Is Hurstmere School a selective school?
- No. Hurstmere School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Hurstmere School?
- Hurstmere School is part of THE HOWARD ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How does Hurstmere School rank locally?
- Hurstmere School ranked 11th of 16 secondary schools in Bexley for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hurstmere School's absence rate?
- Hurstmere School's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hurstmere School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hurstmere School'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.