Castle Mead Academy

Leicester · LE3 5QT

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1223 pupils, 47.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.7% on SEN support Behaviour 9.3% absence rate Staff 17.4% turnover Financials £7,211 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Castle Mead Academy

General Information

Address: Richard III Road, Leicester, LE3 5QT – View on map
Phone: 01162143150
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Chloe French
Age range: 11-16 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1223 pupils out of 1200 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 584
% eligible for free school meals: 47.8%
Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (more mixed than the Leicester average)
English as an additional language: 51% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 17.4% a year (Leicester 14.6%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 34% moved to another school, 66% 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 Leicester: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 38 (1.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 35 (1.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 22 (0.9 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 Leicester, 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: 9.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 23.0%
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: 15.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 70 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 38 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 29 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 11 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 3 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

–

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

Outstanding 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: 48.0
Compared with the area: 1.0 points above the Leicester average (47.0)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (+4.9 points against an expected 43.1)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 70% (Leicester 65%, 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 schoolLeicester averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2023/24 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 1.0 points above the Leicester average (47.0).

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.

10th of 19 secondary schools in Leicester for Attainment 8

#8Soar Valley College51.5
#9The City of Leicester College49.1
#10Castle Mead Academy48.0
#11Crown Hills Community College47.4
#12Judgemeadow Community College46.7

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Madani Girls' School61.4
#2St Paul's Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy54.5
#3English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy54.0
#4Avanti Fields School52.6
#5Sir Jonathan North Girls' College52.6
#6Madani Boys School52.2
#7Rushey Mead Academy51.6
#8Soar Valley College51.5
#9The City of Leicester College49.1
#10Castle Mead Academy48.0
#11Crown Hills Community College47.4
#12Judgemeadow Community College46.7
#13Beaumont Leys School45.2
#14Moat Community College44.6
#15Fullhurst Community College39.2
#16Orchard Mead Academy38.9
#17Babington Academy38.0
#18Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, A church of England School37.8
#19Lancaster Academy37.5

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
Religious Studies
English Literature
French Language
Science Double Award
History
Geography
Computer Science
Art & Design
Biology
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Food Technology
Sports Studies
D & T
Speech & Drama
Music Studies (General)
Polish
Media Studies

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

2nd of 13 secondary schools in Leicester for Ofsted rating

#1Brook Mead AcademyOutstanding
#2Castle Mead AcademyOutstanding
#3Avanti Fields SchoolGood
#4Babington AcademyGood

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

#1Brook Mead AcademyOutstanding
#2Castle Mead AcademyOutstanding
#3Avanti Fields SchoolGood
#4Babington AcademyGood
#5Beaumont Leys SchoolGood
#6English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary AcademyGood
#7Fullhurst Community CollegeGood
#8Judgemeadow Community CollegeGood
#9Lancaster AcademyGood
#10Madani Girls' SchoolGood
#11Moat Community CollegeGood
#12St Paul's Catholic School, a Voluntary AcademyGood
#13The Herewoode AcademyGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,211 (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.

15th of 21 secondary schools in Leicester for spending per pupil

#13Madani Girls' School£7,360
#14The City of Leicester College£7,348
#15Castle Mead Academy£7,211
#16English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy£7,178
#17St Paul's Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy£7,132

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

#1Fullhurst Community College£9,630
#2Beaumont Leys School£8,833
#3Rushey Mead Academy£8,805
#4Babington Academy£8,591
#5Crown Hills Community College£8,568
#6Lancaster Academy£8,455
#7Moat Community College£8,215
#8Soar Valley College£8,112
#9Judgemeadow Community College£8,004
#10Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, A church of England School£8,000
#11Orchard Mead Academy£7,943
#12Madani Boys School£7,520
#13Madani Girls' School£7,360
#14The City of Leicester College£7,348
#15Castle Mead Academy£7,211
#16English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy£7,178
#17St Paul's Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy£7,132
#18Sir Jonathan North Girls' College£6,618
#19Brook Mead Academy£6,527
#20Avanti Fields School£5,508
#21The Herewoode Academy£2,706

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 Leicester: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered