Leigh Academy Wilmington
Academy · ages 11–19 · with a sixth form
Above average on 1 of the four headline measures — 41st of 100 for average grade in Kent.
Wilmington · Kent · one of 104 state secondaries
Summary
Leigh Academy Wilmington sits 41st of 100 state secondaries in Kent for average GCSE grade. 67.1% of its pupils passed both English and maths, against 65.1% across Kent. 45.2% reached the stronger grade 5 in both. Subject by subject it is furthest clear of Kent in English Language and combined science, and furthest behind in Spanish and French, sat by 35% of the year. Ofsted: Outstanding in May 2023.
It is an academy of 1,386 pupils, taking ages 11 to 19 and running its own sixth form. 22.1% of its pupils are eligible for free school meals, and 11% are on SEN support with a further 3.9% holding an education, health and care plan. 83.3% were entered for the full EBacc, more than the 46.9% entered across Kent, which is a choice about how broad a curriculum to push, and 5.7% took the separate sciences rather than combined. 23.1% of pupils missed a tenth of school or more, about the same as Kent, and 84.9% of its leavers went on to further education.
Subject comparisons are measured at grade 4 or above against Kent, and count as ahead or behind only where the gap is wider than the year-to-year swing that entry group would produce.
The school·Kent
Inspection
Outstanding
Last inspected May 2023
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- May 2023 Full inspection Outstanding
- February 2022 Ungraded inspection School remains Good (Improving)
An ungraded inspection checks whether the existing grade still holds rather than replacing it.
That grade was given under the framework that ran from September 2019 to 2024, when Ofsted still issued one overall grade.
Attendance
23% of pupils missed a tenth of school or more, against 23% across Kent and 21% nationally. The comparators are the median secondary school, not an average.
GCSE · Key stage 4·2024/25
Attainment
After Year 11
85% stayed in education, 3% started an apprenticeship (2022/23 leavers)
GCSE results by subject
2024/25 · share reaching grade 4 or above · a standard pass, the old grade C
Every bar is on the same 0–100% scale, so subjects can be read against each other as well as against the county and England. A dash means the figure does not exist rather than being zero. The county and England lines cover state-funded schools only, the same schools you can browse here, because independent schools sit outside the Department for Education's subject release and outside this site.
Compare these subjects against another school, side by side.
English Language is the subject most of this year group sat. English Language tutors on Tutorperch.
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Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25
Sixth form
2024/25
Ofsted rated sixth-form provision Outstanding at the last inspection
Applied general qualifications: average result Merit+, 98 students, 85% stayed the course. These are BTECs and similar, graded pass to distinction* rather than A* to E, so the two cannot be compared directly.
After sixth form
Of the 100 students who finished, 34% went on to higher education, 12% to an apprenticeship, and 37% into work. 84% were in a sustained destination of some kind six months later.
Destinations are for 2022/23 leavers, the most recent DfE has published. The results above are 2024/25.
What these mean
- Attainment 8
- The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
- Grades 4 and 5
- GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
- The EBacc
- A combination of subjects rather than a qualification in its own right: English, Maths, the Sciences, a Language, and History or Geography. The figure shows the share of pupils entered for all the EBacc subject areas, so it gives an indication of how widely a school enters pupils for this particular combination of subjects.
- Progress 8
- A measure of how much progress pupils make between the end of primary school and the end of GCSE, rather than simply what grades they achieve. It takes pupils' prior attainment into account, making it useful for comparing schools with different intakes. Progress 8 is not published for 2024/25 because the pupils concerned did not have Key Stage 2 tests that can be used as the normal starting point.
- Percentage points
- The gap between two percentages. A subject going from 30% to 36% has risen six percentage points, though it has risen by a fifth. We write "pp" to keep the two apart.
- Why some subjects say nothing
- A year group is small. Where a gap is no bigger than the swing a different intake would produce, we say the subjects are level rather than dressing chance as a finding. Two kinds of subject carry no share at all: a vocational award has no 9-to-1 grade to report, and some qualifications are not published on the 9-to-1 scale for a given year group, most often community languages sat outside the school's own timetable.
- Persistent absence
- The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
- Spare places
- The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
- Average A-level grade
- The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
School details
Common Lane
Wilmington
Kent
DA2 7DR
- Principal
- Mr Michael Gore
- Trust
- Leigh Academies Trust
- Pupils
- 1,386 of 1,837 places
- Spare places
- 26%
- Free school meals
- 22%
- SEND
- 11% on SEN support, 4% with an EHC plan
- Separate sciences
- 6% of the year
- Progress 8
- Not published · last +0.23 in 2023/24
Other schools in Kent
103 schools. Distances are straight-line from this school.
- Wilmington Grammar School for Boys 0.1 km
- Wilmington Grammar School for Girls 0.3 km
- Dartford Science & Technology College 1.7 km
- Dartford Grammar School for Girls 1.9 km
- Dartford Grammar School 2.1 km
- Sir Geoffrey Leigh Academy 3.1 km
- Orchards Academy 3.9 km
- Leigh UTC Dartford 4.1 km
- Stone Lodge School 4.3 km
- Alkerden Church of England Academy 7.3 km
- Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet 8.5 km
- Leigh Academy Longfield 8.7 km
- Northfleet School for Girls 10.3 km
- Northfleet Technology College 10.5 km
- Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend 11.6 km
- Saint George's Church of England School 11.7 km
- Gravesend Grammar School 13.3 km
- Meopham School 13.3 km
- St John's Catholic Comprehensive 13.4 km
- Thamesview School 14.2 km
- Trinity School 15.6 km
- Knole Academy 15.7 km
- Wrotham School 16.3 km
- The Holmesdale School 20.6 km
- The Malling School 22.7 km
- Aylesford School 23.7 km
- Hadlow Rural Community School 24.6 km
- Leigh Academy Hugh Christie 24.6 km
- The Judd School 27.1 km
- Leigh Academy Tonbridge 27.1 km
- St Simon Stock Catholic School 27.3 km
- Hillview School for Girls 27.4 km
- The Maplesden Noakes School 27.5 km
- Maidstone Grammar School for Girls 27.6 km
- Oakwood Park Grammar School 27.6 km
- St Augustine Academy 27.6 km
- Tonbridge Grammar School 27.7 km
- Weald of Kent Grammar School 27.8 km
- Invicta Grammar School 29.4 km
- Valley Park School 29.6 km
- Maidstone Grammar School 29.7 km
- School of Science and Technology Maidstone 29.9 km
- New Line Learning Academy 30.8 km
- St Gregory's Catholic School 31.1 km
- Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys 31.2 km
- Cornwallis Academy 31.6 km
- Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School 31.8 km
- Leigh Academy Mascalls 31.8 km
- Bennett Memorial Diocesan School 32 km
- The Skinners' School 32.1 km
- Skinners' Kent Academy 32.7 km
- Westlands School 37.2 km
- Borden Grammar School 38.9 km
- Highsted Grammar School 39.2 km
- Fulston Manor School 39.2 km
- The Sittingbourne School 40.5 km
- EKC Sheppey Secondary 40.5 km
- Leigh Academy Minster 41.1 km
- The Lenham School 41.7 km
- Cranbrook School 44 km
- The Abbey School 50 km
- Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School 50.4 km
- Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre 52.4 km
- Chilmington Green School 54.6 km
- Highworth Grammar School 55.7 km
- Towers School and Sixth Form Centre 55.8 km
- The John Wallis Church of England Academy 57 km
- The North School 57.6 km
- The Norton Knatchbull School 57.8 km
- Wye School 58.6 km
- The Whitstable School 59.3 km
- The Canterbury Academy 62.7 km
- The Archbishop's School 63 km
- Herne Bay High School 64.3 km
- Barton Court Grammar School 64.6 km
- Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys 64.7 km
- Barton Manor School 65.3 km
- Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School 65.4 km
- St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury 65.7 km
- Orion Spires 67.6 km
- Brockhill Park Performing Arts College 71.9 km
- The Marsh Academy 72 km
- Turner Free School 76.4 km
- The Harvey Grammar School 77.1 km
- The Folkestone School for Girls 77.3 km
- Folkestone Academy 77.4 km
- King Ethelbert School 78.6 km
- Ursuline College 78.9 km
- Sandwich Technology School 81.4 km
- Hartsdown Academy 81.8 km
- Sir Roger Manwood's School 81.9 km
- Dover Christ Church Academy 83 km
- Dover Grammar School for Boys 83.3 km
- Astor Secondary School 83.3 km
- The Royal Harbour Academy 83.7 km
- St Edmund's Catholic School 84.1 km
- Dover Grammar School for Girls 84.2 km
- St George's Church of England Foundation School 84.7 km
- Duke of York's Royal Military School 84.9 km
- Dane Court Grammar School 85.4 km
- Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School 85.5 km
- The Charles Dickens School 85.6 km
- Goodwin Academy 86.7 km