UTC Heathrow

UTC Heathrow has shown a solid performance overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all areas, including the quality of education and leadership. The school emphasizes its specialized curriculum in engineering and digital subjects, and students benefit from strong collaboration with employer partners, which enhances their understanding of the workplace. Students express enjoyment in their learning environment and appreciate the support available from staff. However, it is the first inspection for this school, providing a unique context for analysing its performance.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy learning their specialist subjects.
• Strong partnerships with employers enhance curriculum delivery.
• Well-organized careers advice prepares students for post-school pathways.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and make good progress.
• Staff create positive relationships and manage behaviour effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not have a strong love for reading and rarely read for pleasure.
• Support for weaker readers is underdeveloped.
• In some subjects, teaching focuses too much on skills rather than knowledge.

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 UTC Heathrow attended 86.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 43.8% 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, 14.5% of pupils at UTC Heathrow 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 UTC Heathrow had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.5% 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, 4.6% of pupils at UTC Heathrow were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 UTC Heathrow received £9,795 and spent £9,364 for each of its 249 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £586,000 (£2,354 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Activate Learning Education Trust, income was £8,774 and spending £8,593 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 Hillingdon · Hillingdon local authority: places and applications

UTC Heathrow is part of Activate Learning Education Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• UTC Reading Reading
• Theale Green School Reading
• UTC Oxfordshire Didcot
• The Bicester School Bicester
• UTC Swindon Swindon

What is UTC Heathrow's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for UTC Heathrow is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

When was UTC Heathrow last inspected by Ofsted?

UTC Heathrow was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does UTC Heathrow have?

UTC Heathrow has 240 pupils on roll.

What age range does UTC Heathrow cover?

UTC Heathrow for pupils aged 14 to 19.

Where is UTC Heathrow?

UTC Heathrow is at Potter Street, Northwood, HA6 1QG.