Leigh Academy Hugh Christie

Tonbridge and Malling · TN10 4PU

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 688 pupils, 40.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Requires improvement

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 13.4% on SEN support Behaviour 10.7% absence rate Staff 24.7% turnover Financials £9,994 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Leigh Academy Hugh Christie

General Information

Address: White Cottage Road, Tonbridge, TN10 4PU – View on map
Phone: 01732353544
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Palak Shah
Age range: 11-18 years
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

688 pupils out of 1226 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 225
% eligible for free school meals: 40.1%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the Tonbridge and Malling average)
English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 24.7% a year (Tonbridge and Malling 14.4%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 33% moved to another school, 67% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (one year, 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

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 Kent: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 155 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 189 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 83 (0.7 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 Kent (the council area this school is in), 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: 10.7%
Persistently absent pupils: 34.0%
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

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: 13.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 29 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 19 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 14 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 13 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 13 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 13 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 7 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Multi-sensory impairment: 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 –

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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

Requires improvement 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: 40.5
Compared with the area: 13.7 points below the Tonbridge and Malling average (54.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (−3.7 points against an expected 44.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 55% (Tonbridge and Malling 74%, England 65%)
Data year: 2024/25

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

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.

8th of 11 secondary schools in Tonbridge and Malling for Attainment 8

#6The Holmesdale School41.6
#7The Malling School41.0
#8Leigh Academy Hugh Christie40.5
#9Wrotham School39.5
#10Aylesford School37.6

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1The Judd School78.4
#2Tonbridge Grammar School77.2
#3Weald of Kent Grammar School70.0
#4Hillview School for Girls48.0
#5Leigh Academy Tonbridge43.1
#6The Holmesdale School41.6
#7The Malling School41.0
#8Leigh Academy Hugh Christie40.5
#9Wrotham School39.5
#10Aylesford School37.6
#11Hadlow Rural Community School36.3

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
History
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Art & Design
German
Photography
Spanish
D & T
Sociology
Food Technology
Russian
Italian
Polish
Arabic
Community Development
Portuguese

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

6th of 6 secondary schools in Tonbridge and Malling for Ofsted rating

#4The Malling SchoolGood
#5Hadlow Rural Community SchoolRequires improvement
#6Leigh Academy Hugh ChristieRequires improvement

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

#1Tonbridge Grammar SchoolOutstanding
#2Hillview School for GirlsGood
#3Leigh Academy TonbridgeGood
#4The Malling SchoolGood
#5Hadlow Rural Community SchoolRequires improvement
#6Leigh Academy Hugh ChristieRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,994 (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.

3rd of 11 secondary schools in Tonbridge and Malling for spending per pupil

#1The Holmesdale School£10,640
#2The Malling School£10,331
#3Leigh Academy Hugh Christie£9,994
#4Hadlow Rural Community School£9,622
#5Aylesford School£8,264

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

#1The Holmesdale School£10,640
#2The Malling School£10,331
#3Leigh Academy Hugh Christie£9,994
#4Hadlow Rural Community School£9,622
#5Aylesford School£8,264
#6The Judd School£7,582
#7Weald of Kent Grammar School£7,402
#8Tonbridge Grammar School£7,151
#9Hillview School for Girls£7,144
#10Wrotham School£7,086
#11Leigh Academy Tonbridge£6,824

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 Kent: 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