The Beacon School

The Beacon School is a larger-than-average secondary school that is performing at the expected standard across all areas. Leaders have been tenacious since the last inspection, working closely with the GLF Trust to drive rapid improvement. Behaviour has improved significantly, and pupils are confident, happy and well supported in a caring environment. The curriculum is ambitious and well designed, and pupils typically achieve in line with national averages, with particular strength in English and mathematics. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school has a strong personal development offer, including a wide range of clubs, trips and a well-designed careers programme.

Strengths

• Pupils are confident, happy and well behaved in a caring school environment
• Behaviour has improved significantly since the previous inspection
• The curriculum is ambitious, well designed and logically sequenced
• Pupils achieve broadly in line with national averages, with particular strength in English and mathematics
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe
• Inclusion is well established, with effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• The school has a wide-ranging personal development offer, including clubs, trips and leadership opportunities
• Careers education is well designed and prepares pupils for their next steps
• Leadership and governance are knowledgeable and provide effective challenge and support
• Staff are positive about working at the school and value the professional development they receive

Areas for Improvement

• The attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains low, meaning too many vulnerable pupils miss crucial learning
• Occasionally, staff do not select tasks or use questioning as precisely as they could, so some pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could
• The help that a small number of pupils receive with handwriting and spelling is not precise enough, so they do not develop these skills as effectively as they could
• Pupils are less detailed in their recall of some personal development concepts, such as democracy
• Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as they could in national tests

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 Beacon School attended 91.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.8% 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, 11.3% of pupils at The Beacon School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Beacon School had 18.8 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, 23.1% of pupils at The Beacon School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.5% 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 Beacon School received £8,353 and spent £8,340 for each of its 1,024 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £951,000 (£929 per pupil).

Across all 42 schools of Glf Schools, income was £7,514 and spending £7,514 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 Banstead · Surrey local authority: places and applications

The Beacon School is part of Glf Schools, which runs 43 schools. The nearest others:

• Banstead Infant School and Nursery Banstead
• Warren Mead Infant School Banstead
• Warren Mead Junior School Banstead
• The Vale Primary School and Nursery Epsom
• Cuddington Croft Primary School and Nursery Sutton
• Glyn School Epsom
• Rosebery School Epsom
• Danetree Primary School Epsom
• Merstham Primary School Redhill
• Lime Tree Primary School and Nursery Merstham

What is The Beacon School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Beacon School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was The Beacon School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Beacon School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does The Beacon School have?

The Beacon School has 959 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Beacon School cover?

The Beacon School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are The Beacon School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.7, and 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Beacon School?

The Beacon School is at Picquets Way, Banstead, Surrey, SM7 1AG.