Ark Acton Academy

Ealing · W3 8EY

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 752 pupils, 54.2% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 14.4% on SEN support Behaviour 12.5% absence rate Staff 28.1% turnover Financials £11,240 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Ark Acton Academy

General Information

Address: Gunnersbury Lane, Acton, London, W3 8EY – View on map
Phone: 02031102400
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Headteacher Sarah Donachy
Age range: 11-18 years
Furthest place offered from: Not distance-based that year - all applicants offered From the council's own Sept 2026 admissions data - not a fixed catchment boundary, and no guarantee for future years, since it shifts with demand each year.
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 23 families put it first for 155 places – 1 for every 10 places. 96% of them were offered a place. 4 of the 155 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 2 · 2024 2 · 2025 3 · 2026 1
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

752 pupils out of 1400 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 301
% eligible for free school meals: 54.2%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (similar to the Ealing average)
English as an additional language: 61% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 28.1% a year (Ealing 19.3%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 58% moved to another school, 42% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Ealing: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 38 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 32 (1.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 10 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Ealing, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 12.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 41.3%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 14.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 37 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 27 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 21 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 8 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 6 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 6 pupils
Physical disability: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 42.1
Compared with the area: 10.9 points below the Ealing average (53.0)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (−0.1 points against an expected 42.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 57% (Ealing 74%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolEaling averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 10.9 points below the Ealing average (53.0).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

15th of 16 secondary schools in Ealing for Attainment 8

#13Alec Reed Academy45.1
#14Brentside High School44.1
#15Ark Acton Academy42.1
#16Islip Manor High School38.3

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Twyford Church of England High School67.1
#2Ealing Fields Church of England High School66.1
#3Ada Lovelace Church of England High School64.4
#4William Perkin Church of England High School62.5
#5The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School58.4
#6Elthorne Park High School57.2
#7The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls56.5
#8Drayton Manor High School56.0
#9Dormers Wells High School49.1
#10Featherstone High School48.8
#11Greenford High School48.6
#12Villiers High School46.3
#13Alec Reed Academy45.1
#14Brentside High School44.1
#15Ark Acton Academy42.1
#16Islip Manor High School38.3

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 87.0%
Went into further education: 86.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
Geography
History
French Language
Sociology
Business Studies
Arabic
Art & Design
Sports Studies
Biology
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Music Studies (General)
Spanish
Polish
Russian
Italian
Japanese Language
Portuguese
Greek
Urdu
Turkish
Statistics
Bengali

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

10th of 13 secondary schools in Ealing for Ofsted rating

#8Villiers High SchoolOutstanding
#9Alec Reed AcademyGood
#10Ark Acton AcademyGood
#11Brentside High SchoolGood
#12Ealing Fields Church of England High SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Ada Lovelace Church of England High SchoolOutstanding
#2Ark Soane AcademyOutstanding
#3Drayton Manor High SchoolOutstanding
#4Elthorne Park High SchoolOutstanding
#5The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic SchoolOutstanding
#6The Ellen Wilkinson School for GirlsOutstanding
#7Twyford Church of England High SchoolOutstanding
#8Villiers High SchoolOutstanding
#9Alec Reed AcademyGood
#10Ark Acton AcademyGood
#11Brentside High SchoolGood
#12Ealing Fields Church of England High SchoolGood
#13Islip Manor High SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £11,240 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

2nd of 17 secondary schools in Ealing for spending per pupil

#1Islip Manor High School£11,780
#2Ark Acton Academy£11,240
#3Ark Soane Academy£9,747
#4Brentside High School£9,685

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Islip Manor High School£11,780
#2Ark Acton Academy£11,240
#3Ark Soane Academy£9,747
#4Brentside High School£9,685
#5Ealing Fields Church of England High School£9,387
#6Alec Reed Academy£9,343
#7Dormers Wells High School£9,278
#8Greenford High School£9,264
#9The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls£9,127
#10Villiers High School£9,064
#11Drayton Manor High School£8,876
#12Elthorne Park High School£8,525
#13The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School£8,470
#14Ada Lovelace Church of England High School£8,278
#15Featherstone High School£8,031
#16William Perkin Church of England High School£7,859
#17Twyford Church of England High School£7,791

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Ealing: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered