Brook Sixth Form and Academy

Brook Sixth Form and Academy is a small university technical college that has been inspected for the first time under section 5. It is part of the Partnership Learning Trust and is sponsored by Ford and University College London. Inspectors found a school where pupils are proud to attend, feel safe and behave maturely, with outstanding judgements for behaviour and attitudes and personal development, and good judgements for quality of education, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. Safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are mature, respectful and demonstrate exceptionally positive attitudes to learning.
• The school is calm and purposeful, and pupils feel safe; discriminatory language is not tolerated.
• Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps through high-quality work experience and employer-linked projects.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported, access the same curriculum as peers and achieve well.
• Reading and subject-specific vocabulary are prioritised, including effective one-to-one reading support.
• Teachers typically check understanding well, address misconceptions and provide feedback that pupils act on.
• The personal development offer is extensive, with clubs, trips, cultural events and student leadership opportunities.
• Staff enjoy working at the school and appreciate leaders’ consideration of workload and well-being.
• Governors work closely with leaders to provide support and challenge.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum leadership and staffing are not yet fully embedded in a small number of subjects, particularly at A level.
• In these subjects, leaders do not have a secure enough understanding of gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills, which affects achievement.
• Pupils’ achievement is stronger in vocational subjects than in academic subjects.

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 Brook Sixth Form and Academy attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Brook Sixth Form and 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 Brook Sixth Form and Academy had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.5% 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, 8.4% of pupils at Brook Sixth Form and Academy 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 Brook Sixth Form and Academy received £9,463 and spent £12,515 for each of its 237 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £317,000 (£1,337 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Partnership Learning, income was £9,377 and spending £9,407 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 Barking And Dagenham · Barking and Dagenham local authority: places and applications

Brook Sixth Form and Academy is part of Partnership Learning, which runs 20 schools. The nearest others:

• Oxlow Bridge School Dagenham
• Harrow Lodge Primary School Hornchurch
• The Sydney Russell School Dagenham
• Hornchurch High School Hornchurch
• Park Primary Academy Rainham
• The James Cambell Primary School Dagenham
• Riverside Bridge School Barking
• Riverside School Barking
• Riverside Primary School Barking
• Eastbury Primary School Barking

What is Brook Sixth Form and Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Brook Sixth Form and Academy is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Brook Sixth Form and Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Brook Sixth Form and Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Brook Sixth Form and Academy have?

Brook Sixth Form and Academy has 273 pupils on roll.

What age range does Brook Sixth Form and Academy cover?

Brook Sixth Form and Academy for pupils aged 14 to 19.

Where is Brook Sixth Form and Academy?

Brook Sixth Form and Academy is at Yew Tree Avenue, Rainham Road South, Dagenham, RM10 7FN.