Leigh Academy Minster

Swale · ME12 3JQ

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1005 pupils, 42.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 9.6% on SEN support Behaviour 13.0% absence rate Staff 29.8% turnover Financials £7,897 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Leigh Academy Minster

General Information

Address: Minster Road, Sheerness, ME12 3JQ – View on map
Phone: 01795358250
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mathieu Stevens
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 223 families put it first for 203 places – 11 for every 10 places. 86% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2025 13 · 2026 11
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1005 pupils out of 1150 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 398
% eligible for free school meals: 42.2%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the Swale average)
English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 29.8% a year (Swale 18%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 38% moved to another school, 62% 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: 13.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 39.3%
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: 9.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 40 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 24 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 10 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 6 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

An Ofsted rating for this school hasn't been added yet.

Attainment 8 score: 28.4
Compared with the area: 13.9 points below the Swale average (42.3)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (−11.0 points against an expected 39.4)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 25% (Swale 59%, 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 8 secondary schools in Swale for Attainment 8

#6Fulston Manor School35.3
#7The Sittingbourne School34.1
#8Leigh Academy Minster28.4

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School65.1
#2Borden Grammar School63.2
#3Highsted Grammar School61.1
#4Westlands School40.6
#5The Abbey School35.5
#6Fulston Manor School35.3
#7The Sittingbourne School34.1
#8Leigh Academy Minster28.4

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
Science Double Award
English Literature
Geography
History
Spanish
Art & Design
Psychology (General)
Religious Studies
French Language
Polish

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: £7,897 (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 9 secondary schools in Swale for spending per pupil

#2The Sittingbourne School£8,046
#3The Abbey School£7,995
#4Leigh Academy Minster£7,897
#5Westlands School£7,250
#6Fulston Manor School£7,001

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

#1EKC Sheppey Secondary£11,904
#2The Sittingbourne School£8,046
#3The Abbey School£7,995
#4Leigh Academy Minster£7,897
#5Westlands School£7,250
#6Fulston Manor School£7,001
#7Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School£6,966
#8Borden Grammar School£6,881
#9Highsted Grammar School£6,466

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 ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered