The Excelsior Academy

Hackney · E8 2EY

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 983 pupils, 64.7% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN Resourced provision · 9.6% on SEN support Behaviour 8.7% absence rate Staff 33.9% turnover Financials £10,872 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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The Excelsior Academy

General Information

Address: Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, London, E8 2EY – View on map
Phone: 02072751500
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Omar Deria
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 77 families put it first for 139 places – 6 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 9 of the 139 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 4 · 2024 4 · 2025 5 · 2026 6
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

983 pupils out of 1080 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 514
% eligible for free school meals: 64.7%
Pupil mix: 9 in 10 (more mixed than the Hackney average)
English as an additional language: 44% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 33.9% a year (Hackney 21.3%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 62% moved to another school, 38% 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 Hackney: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 31 (2.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 60 (4.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 18 (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 Hackney, 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: 27.5%
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 for Hearing impairment 12 places · 12 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 9.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 25 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 22 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 17 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 11 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 11 pupils
Hearing impairment: 10 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 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

Good 2024 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: 44.7
Compared with the area: 6.9 points below the Hackney average (51.6)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+5.9 points against an expected 38.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 61% (Hackney 71%, England 65%) Falling
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 schoolHackney averageEngland↘ Falling Down 3.7 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 6.9 points below the Hackney average (51.6).

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.

11th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for Attainment 8

#9Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form48.4
#10Skinners' Academy46.4
#11The Excelsior Academy44.7
#12Waterside Academy44.6
#13All Saints Catholic High School44.1

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Mossbourne Community Academy65.1
#2Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy64.3
#3Clapton Girls' Academy59.4
#4Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School59.0
#5The Bridge Academy56.9
#6City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park54.3
#7Haggerston School52.7
#8The City Academy, Hackney49.1
#9Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form48.4
#10Skinners' Academy46.4
#11The Excelsior Academy44.7
#12Waterside Academy44.6
#13All Saints Catholic High School44.1
#14Cardinal Pole Catholic School42.9
#15Lubavitch House School (Senior Girls)39.9
#16The Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary School39.2

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 93.0%
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 Language
English Literature
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
Spanish
History
Geography
Chinese
Physics (General)
Business Studies
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Computer Science
Psychology (General)
Sociology
Arabic
Art & Design
Turkish
Statistics
Urdu
Portuguese
Polish
Music Studies (General)
French Language
German

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

10th of 12 secondary schools in Hackney for Ofsted rating

#8The Bridge AcademyGood
#9The City Academy, HackneyGood
#10The Excelsior AcademyGood
#11The Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary SchoolGood
#12Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls SchoolGood

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

#1Clapton Girls' AcademyOutstanding
#2Mossbourne Victoria Park AcademyOutstanding
#3All Saints Catholic High SchoolGood
#4Cardinal Pole Catholic SchoolGood
#5Haggerston SchoolGood
#6Lubavitch House School (Senior Girls)Good
#7Stoke Newington School and Sixth FormGood
#8The Bridge AcademyGood
#9The City Academy, HackneyGood
#10The Excelsior AcademyGood
#11The Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary SchoolGood
#12Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £10,872 (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.

8th of 16 secondary schools in Hackney for spending per pupil

#6City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park£11,206
#7Cardinal Pole Catholic School£11,023
#8The Excelsior Academy£10,872
#9Skinners' Academy£10,638
#10The City Academy, Hackney£10,620

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 Urswick School - A Church of England Secondary School£13,592
#2All Saints Catholic High School£12,015
#3Waterside Academy£11,728
#4The Bridge Academy£11,361
#5Haggerston School£11,253
#6City of London Academy, Shoreditch Park£11,206
#7Cardinal Pole Catholic School£11,023
#8The Excelsior Academy£10,872
#9Skinners' Academy£10,638
#10The City Academy, Hackney£10,620
#11Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School£10,137
#12Clapton Girls' Academy£9,991
#13Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form£9,873
#14Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy£9,455
#15Mossbourne Community Academy£9,389
#16Lubavitch House School (Senior Girls)£5,248

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 Hackney: 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 ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered