Rivers Academy West London

Rivers Academy West London is a highly effective secondary school where pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum and achieve highly in key stages 3 and 4. Inspectors found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management to be outstanding, while sixth-form provision was good. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are well supported to access the curriculum, and staff have strong subject knowledge and receive high-quality training. Behaviour is exceptional, pupils feel safe, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school offers an extensive range of enrichment activities, visits and cultural experiences, and its personal, social and health education and careers programmes are carefully designed to support pupils’ wider development and next steps. Attendance is strong, and trust and governance arrangements provide clear strategic oversight and hold leaders to account. The main area for improvement is the sixth form, where aspects of the curriculum are not implemented consistently and outcomes in some areas are not as strong as elsewhere in the school. Leaders need to ensure recent curriculum changes are fully embedded and that staff have the support and training to implement them fully. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is part of Aspirations Academies Trust.

Strengths

• Highly ambitious and coherently sequenced curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Pupils in key stages 3 and 4 achieve highly, including in national examinations
• Exceptional behaviour and an orderly, purposeful learning environment
• Pupils feel safe and safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Strong subject knowledge and high-quality subject-specific staff training
• Accurate identification of pupils’ needs and effective adaptations in the classroom
• Extensive enrichment, visits and cultural opportunities for pupils
• Well-designed personal, social and health education curriculum
• Comprehensive careers advice and preparation for education, employment or training
• High expectations of attendance and punctuality with close monitoring
• Effective trust and governance oversight that holds leaders to account
• Sixth-form students achieve well and are thoroughly prepared for their next stage

Areas for Improvement

• Sixth-form curriculum implementation is not consistently strong across all subjects
• Some aspects of the key stage 5 curriculum are not as fully embedded as in key stages 3 and 4
• Sixth-form outcomes in some areas are not as strong as elsewhere in the school
• Staff need further support and training to fully embed recent sixth-form curriculum changes

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 Rivers Academy West London attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.1% 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, 8.0% of pupils at Rivers Academy West London 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 Rivers Academy West London had 16.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.9% 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, 11.8% of pupils at Rivers Academy West London were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.8% 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 Rivers Academy West London received £8,296 and spent £8,318 for each of its 1,045 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £53,000 (-£50 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Aspirations Academies Trust, income was £8,111 and spending £8,266 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 Hounslow · Hounslow local authority: places and applications

Rivers Academy West London is part of Aspirations Academies Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• Space Studio West London Hounslow
• Oak Hill Academy West London Feltham
• Oriel Academy West London Feltham
• Park Academy West London Hillingdon
• Dashwood Banbury Academy Banbury
• Wykham Park Banbury
• Futures Institute Banbury Banbury
• Harriers Banbury Academy Banbury
• Jewell Academy Bournemouth Bournemouth
• Livingstone Academy Bournemouth Bournemouth

What is Rivers Academy West London's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Rivers Academy West London is Outstanding, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Rivers Academy West London last inspected by Ofsted?

Rivers Academy West London was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Rivers Academy West London have?

Rivers Academy West London has 1,058 pupils on roll.

What age range does Rivers Academy West London cover?

Rivers Academy West London for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Rivers Academy West London's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.7, and 52% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Rivers Academy West London?

Rivers Academy West London is at Tachbrook Road, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 9PE.