The Excelsior Academy

The Petchey Academy is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all inspected domains, including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The school, which recently joined the Community Schools Trust, has high expectations for its students and offers a supportive curriculum designed to cater to each pupil's needs, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The school provides personalized guidance for academic pathways and engages students with meaningful work experience opportunities in various fields.

Strengths

• High expectations for behaviour and academic work.
• Strong support for students with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Ambitious curriculum that connects students to real-world applications.
• Teachers are experts in their subjects and use effective teaching strategies.
• Effective monitoring of student attendance and early intervention for absences.
• Good career guidance and meaningful work experience opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Behaviour policy is not effective for some pupils with SEND, leading to higher suspension rates.
• Limited participation in wider enrichment experiences reduces cultural capital.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at The Excelsior Academy attended 91.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 12.0% of pupils at The Excelsior Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 The Excelsior Academy had 12.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 9.6% of pupils at The Excelsior Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 9 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Excelsior Academy received £11,205 and spent £11,449 for each of its 994 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,040,000 (£1,046 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Community Schools Trust, income was £11,022 and spending £10,890 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hackney · Hackney local authority: places and applications

The Excelsior Academy is part of Community Schools Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Waterside Academy London
• Haggerston School London
• Forest Gate Community School London
• Cumberland Community School London
• Park Academy South Ockendon
• University Technical College Norfolk Norwich

What is The Excelsior Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Excelsior Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was The Excelsior Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The Excelsior Academy was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does The Excelsior Academy have?

The Excelsior Academy has 983 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Excelsior Academy cover?

The Excelsior Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Excelsior Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.6, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Excelsior Academy?

The Excelsior Academy is at Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, London, E8 2EY.