Harris Lowe Academy Willesden

Brent · NW10 3ST

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1149 pupils, 52.5% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 7% on SEN support Behaviour 8.7% absence rate Staff 29.2% turnover Financials £9,684 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

Harris Lowe Academy Willesden

General Information

Address: Doyle Gardens, Willesden, London, NW10 3ST – View on map
Phone: 02088388700
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Joshua Deery
Age range: 11-18 years
Furthest place offered from: Not distance-based that year - not oversubscribed in 2026, places were available 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): 79 families put it first for 158 places – 5 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 7 of the 158 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 6 · 2024 6 · 2025 7 · 2026 5
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1149 pupils out of 1200 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 489
% eligible for free school meals: 52.5%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Brent average)
English as an additional language: 57% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 29.2% a year (Brent 20.6%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 45% moved to another school, 55% 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 Brent: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 42 (2.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 53 (2.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.3 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 Brent, 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: 8.7%
Persistently absent pupils: 28.0%
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: 7.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 27 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 16 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 13 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 11 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 9 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Physical disability: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil

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 –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Attainment 8 score: 41.6
Compared with the area: 11.0 points below the Brent average (52.6)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−5.5 points against an expected 47.1)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 57% (Brent 73%, England 65%) Improving
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 schoolBrent 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 11.0 points below the Brent average (52.6).

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.

14th of 16 secondary schools in Brent for Attainment 8

#12Ark Elvin Academy45.9
#13Saint Claudine's Catholic School for Girls44.7
#14Harris Lowe Academy Willesden41.6
#15E-ACT Crest Academy39.9
#16Newman Catholic College35.9

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Michaela Community School77.6
#2Menorah High School for Girls66.7
#3JFS64.6
#4Wembley High Technology College63.5
#5St Gregory's Catholic Science College60.6
#6Claremont High School54.8
#7Ark Academy51.5
#8Queens Park Community School51.1
#9Alperton Community School49.6
#10Kingsbury High School47.3
#11Preston Manor School46.2
#12Ark Elvin Academy45.9
#13Saint Claudine's Catholic School for Girls44.7
#14Harris Lowe Academy Willesden41.6
#15E-ACT Crest Academy39.9
#16Newman Catholic College35.9

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 92.0%
Went into further education: 91.0%
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 Literature
English Language
Science Double Award
History
Geography
Business Studies
Spanish
Art & Design
Sociology
French Language
Media Studies
Biology
German
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Arabic
Speech & Drama
Photography
Portuguese
Persian Language
Community Development

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

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,684 (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.

4th of 17 secondary schools in Brent for spending per pupil

#2North Brent School£10,495
#3JFS£10,419
#4Harris Lowe Academy Willesden£9,684
#5Ark Elvin Academy£9,521
#6Kingsbury High School£9,095

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

#1Newman Catholic College£10,893
#2North Brent School£10,495
#3JFS£10,419
#4Harris Lowe Academy Willesden£9,684
#5Ark Elvin Academy£9,521
#6Kingsbury High School£9,095
#7Menorah High School for Girls£9,007
#8Michaela Community School£8,753
#9Preston Manor School£8,705
#10Ark Academy£8,639
#11Saint Claudine's Catholic School for Girls£8,586
#12St Gregory's Catholic Science College£8,272
#13Wembley High Technology College£8,268
#14Queens Park Community School£8,193
#15E-ACT Crest Academy£7,877
#16Claremont High School£7,806
#17Alperton Community School£7,790

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

Have you rated Harris Lowe Academy Willesden yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school

General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Brent: 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 ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered