The Basildon Lower Academy

Basildon · SS14 1UX

General information Secondary School · 11-14 years Who goes here 892 pupils, 52.6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 16.3% on SEN support Behaviour 15.3% absence rate Staff 47.3% turnover Financials £10,369 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Basildon Lower Academy

General Information

Address: Timberlog Close, Timberlog Lane, Basildon, SS14 1UX – View on map
Phone: 01268552536
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Rebecca Rees
Age range: 11-14 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 86 families put it first for 213 places – 4 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 2 of the 213 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 3 · 2024 3 · 2025 4 · 2026 4
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

892 pupils out of 1350 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 469
% eligible for free school meals: 52.6%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Basildon average)
English as an additional language: 25% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 47.3% a year (Basildon 19.3%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 77% moved to another school, 23% 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 Essex: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 227 (2.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 216 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 112 (1.2 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 Essex (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: 15.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 42.1%
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: 16.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 41 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 34 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 27 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 18 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 12 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 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

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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

Ofsted report card January 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

An Attainment 8 score for this school hasn't been added yet.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £10,369 (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.

1st of 9 secondary schools in Basildon for spending per pupil

#1The Basildon Lower Academy£10,369
#2Woodlands School£8,909
#3De La Salle School£8,476

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 Basildon Lower Academy£10,369
#2Woodlands School£8,909
#3De La Salle School£8,476
#4The James Hornsby School£8,369
#5The Bromfords School£8,336
#6The Billericay School£7,564
#7Mayflower High School£7,431
#8Beauchamps High School£6,991
#9The Basildon Upper Academy£6,409

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

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