Belfairs Academy

Belfairs Academy is a large secondary school and part of Legra Academy Trust. Inspectors found that safeguarding standards are met and that pupils are safe, behave well and benefit from strong inclusion, pastoral care, enrichment and careers guidance. Attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing are all performing as expected. Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are generally well supported, and leaders have strengthened quality assurance, staff training and middle-leadership development. The main concerns are academic outcomes and governance. A-level results and progress have been below national over time, with insufficient academic rigour, stretch and challenge, and overgenerous moderation in some subjects. Support for reading, writing and numeracy is inconsistent across the curriculum, particularly for older pupils, and some staff do not fully use their training to help pupils with the basics. Pupils also do not spend the Department for Education's recommended 32.5 hours per week in school. Governance is not working effectively: the trust has limited capacity to make required changes, external review recommendations remain outstanding, and local governors are not fulfilling core delegated functions. Attendance is broadly in line with national and leaders responded quickly to a recent dip, while suspensions and bullying are low. Sixth-form applied vocational courses perform well and students benefit from work-related learning and personal development, but A-level students are not achieving as they should. The school is larger than average, with below-average proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, and no resourced SEND provision. Leaders have clear next steps to improve literacy and numeracy support, A-level provision, attendance and governance.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding and pupils feeling safe.
• Pupils behave well and enjoy respectful relationships with staff and each other.
• Attendance is broadly in line with national and leaders responded quickly to a recent dip.
• Suspensions and bullying incidents are low, and staff address unkindness promptly.
• Inclusion is central, with effective identification of SEND and social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from an evidence-based strategy that is narrowing the attainment gap.
• Pupils with EHC plans and SEND receive appropriate, bespoke support.
• PSHE, relationships and sex education, and online safety are comprehensive and age-appropriate.
• Careers education is evolving well and includes independent one-to-one guidance.
• A wide-ranging enrichment offer supports vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils to access opportunities.
• Leaders have improved quality assurance, middle-leader training and professional learning.
• Sixth-form applied vocational courses achieve well, with strong work-related learning and personal development.

Areas for Improvement

• A-level outcomes over time are below national and students receive insufficient stretch and challenge.
• Some A-level courses lack academic rigour, and moderation is overgenerous in places.
• Support for reading, writing and numeracy is inconsistent across the curriculum, especially for older pupils.
• Some staff do not fully use training to help pupils with literacy and numeracy in lessons.
• Some pupils do not gain reading, writing and number skills quickly enough in lower years.
• Pupils do not receive the Department for Education's recommended 32.5 hours per week in school.
• Governance is not working effectively, and local governors do not fulfil core delegated functions.
• The trust has limited capacity to enact governance changes, leaving external review recommendations outstanding.
• The local governing body has not adequately considered the findings of the external governance review.
• Leaders have been slow to ensure the sixth form meets students' needs, particularly for A-level courses.
• Attendance had a recent dip and remains a focus for continued improvement.

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 Belfairs Academy attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.1% 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, 2.1% of pupils at Belfairs Academy 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 Belfairs Academy had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.4% 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, 10.7% of pupils at Belfairs Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 Belfairs Academy received £7,279 and spent £6,954 for each of its 1,606 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,855,000 (£1,778 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Legra Academy Trust, income was £7,141 and spending £6,868 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 Leigh-On-Sea · Southend-on-Sea local authority: places and applications

Belfairs Academy is part of Legra Academy Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Darlinghurst Academy Leigh-On-Sea

What is Belfairs Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Belfairs Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Belfairs Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Belfairs Academy have?

Belfairs Academy has 1,558 pupils on roll.

What age range does Belfairs Academy cover?

Belfairs Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Belfairs Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.9, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Belfairs Academy?

Belfairs Academy is at Highlands Boulevard, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 3TG.