The Basildon Lower Academy

The Basildon Lower Academy is a 909-pupil school in Basildon, part of the Basildon Academies trust, serving a community with high levels of disadvantage. Inspectors found the school performing at the expected standard in most areas: pupils generally achieve well, the curriculum is ambitious and coherent, teaching is typically strong, inclusion support is effective, and personal development is well planned. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe and supported.

Strengths

• Pupils generally achieve well and build knowledge securely across the curriculum.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and coherently sequenced.
• Teachers use secure subject knowledge and effective lesson structures.
• Reading is prioritised with targeted support for pupils who fall behind.
• Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and generally access the full curriculum.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND typically achieve in line with their peers.
• Classrooms are calm, pupils focus well and behaviour is usually respectful.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is well planned and broad.
• A wide range of enrichment, careers and transition opportunities extends pupils’ learning.
• Governance provides effective challenge and support, and staff value training and workload support.
• Inclusion team coordinates timely support for vulnerable pupils and families.

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent low attendance and high persistent absence remain significant weaknesses.
• Leaders’ strategies to improve attendance have not had sufficient impact.
• Leadership and governance require further attention because attendance issues limit pupils’ progress.
• Attendance and behaviour require urgent improvement.
• Some pupils have gaps in knowledge caused by low attendance.
• Teachers do not consistently adapt the curriculum for all disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Routines and behaviour expectations are not applied consistently enough, and incidents are not always challenged promptly.
• Variability in pupils’ literacy skills, including handwriting, affects written work for a minority.
• Some elements of the curriculum still require further development.
• Support for vulnerable pupils varies as staff refine their practice.
• Some pupils, particularly those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, may not participate fully in extra-curricular activities.

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 Basildon Lower Academy attended 84.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 42.1% 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, 19.3% of pupils at The Basildon Lower Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Basildon Lower Academy had 20.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 44.3% 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, 16.3% of pupils at The Basildon Lower Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 Basildon Lower Academy received £9,215 and spent £10,411 for each of its 915 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,507,000 (£1,647 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of The Basildon Academies, income was £9,155 and spending £8,430 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 Basildon · Essex local authority: places and applications

The Basildon Lower Academy is part of The Basildon Academies, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• The Basildon Upper Academy Basildon

What is The Basildon Lower Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Basildon Lower Academy is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was The Basildon Lower Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The Basildon Lower Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does The Basildon Lower Academy have?

The Basildon Lower Academy has 892 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Basildon Lower Academy cover?

The Basildon Lower Academy for pupils aged 11 to 14.

Where is The Basildon Lower Academy?

The Basildon Lower Academy is at Timberlog Close, Timberlog Lane, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1UX.