Chadwell Heath Academy

Chadwell Heath Academy has improved since its previous inspection and is now performing well overall. It is a warm, welcoming 11–18 mixed comprehensive and single-academy trust where pupils feel safe, behave well and achieve well across a broad, ambitious curriculum. Safeguarding is effective, reading is a priority, and pupils benefit from strong personal development and a wide range of extra-curricular and leadership opportunities. The sixth form offers an extensive choice of courses and prepares students well for independence. Leaders have strengthened the curriculum, increased EBacc take-up, revised behaviour management so that suspensions and exclusions have reduced, and supported staff well. Governance is ambitious and effective action has been taken where improvements were needed. The main area for further work is SEND: identification processes and work with external agencies have improved, but some teachers do not consistently use the available information to adapt teaching, which limits what some pupils with SEND can achieve. The school is a large mixed secondary and sixth form in Redbridge, with 1,238 pupils on roll, including 321 in the sixth form. It is a single-academy trust led by headteacher Richard Poddington, who was appointed in September 2023, and chaired by Peter Brewster.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and are kept safe in a warm, welcoming community.
• Pupils develop a strong understanding of diversity and discuss complex issues respectfully.
• Pupils enjoy learning, try hard and produce high-quality work.
• A broad, ambitious curriculum is well sequenced and helps pupils revisit and embed key knowledge.
• The school has increased take-up of EBacc subjects, including modern foreign languages.
• Reading is a priority, with carefully selected texts and a structured programme for pupils needing support.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, and suspensions and exclusions have reduced.
• Personal development is promoted well, including online safety, discrimination and healthy relationships.
• Sixth-form students have an extensive range of courses and are well prepared for independence.
• Leaders are ambitious, act on improvements and consider staff workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching and support for pupils with SEND are not consistently matched to their needs, so some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• Some teachers do not use SEND guidance effectively, meaning the curriculum is sometimes not adapted meaningfully for these pupils.

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 Chadwell Heath Academy attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.8% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Chadwell Heath Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Chadwell Heath Academy had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.3% 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, 14.7% of pupils at Chadwell Heath Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.9% 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 Chadwell Heath Academy received £7,746 and spent £7,978 for each of its 1,250 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,920,000 (£1,536 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 Redbridge · Redbridge local authority: places and applications

What is Chadwell Heath Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chadwell Heath Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Chadwell Heath Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Chadwell Heath Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Chadwell Heath Academy have?

Chadwell Heath Academy has 1,229 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chadwell Heath Academy cover?

Chadwell Heath Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Chadwell Heath Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 53.9, and 62% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Chadwell Heath Academy?

Chadwell Heath Academy is at Christie Gardens, Chadwell Heath, Romford, Essex, RM6 4RS.