Ark Acton Academy
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Ealing
Gunnersbury Lane, London, W3 8EY
66
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 02/02/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
87.5%
41.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
752
Capacity used
Has space54%
1,400 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
41 of 41 families who put it first got an offer
151
Places offered
221
Total applications
1.5
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 41 | 41 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 48 | 13 | ● 27% |
| 3rd preference | 40 | 6 | ● 15% |
| Later preferences (4th–6th) | 92 | 10 | ● 11% |
| Total | 221 | 70 | 32% |
1st preference success by year
Ealing lets families list 6 preferences. 28 applications came from outside the council area (10 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Sarah Donachy
- Address
- Gunnersbury Lane, Acton, London, W3 8EY
- Phone
- 02031102400
- Local authority
- Ealing
- Ward / constituency
- South Acton · Ealing Central and Acton
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 146318
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 54% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 63% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ARK SCHOOLS
752 pupils · 1,400 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
02 February 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 739 pupils
Attendance
87.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
12.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
41.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
7.6%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
7.5%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 46.2 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.20 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 46% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 63% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.24 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 28.62 | — | — |
Average grade: C (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 32.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 57.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 58.2% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.91 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 194 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 27.58 | 35 |
| Average grade | C- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 10.4% | 17% |
| A-level students | 48 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 190 | 17% | 42% | 66% | |
| English Language | 190 | 10% | 41% | 63% | |
| English Literature | 189 | 13% | 55% | 74% | |
| Religious Studies | 188 | 9% | 48% | 61% | |
| Combined Science | 170 | 8% | 33% | 53% | |
| Geography | 113 | 5% | 19% | 37% | |
| French | 74 | 11% | 50% | 70% | |
| History | 74 | 8% | 27% | 42% | |
| Social Studies | 71 | 10% | 31% | 52% | |
| Business | 66 | 0% | 26% | 38% | |
| Arabic | 34 | 47% | 59% | 65% | |
| Art and Design | 28 | 4% | 25% | 50% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 24 | 0% | 17% | 38% | |
| Psychology | 22 | 0% | 5% | 27% | |
| Economics | 21 | 5% | 14% | 24% | |
| Chemistry | 20 | 0% | 5% | 30% | |
| Biology | 16 | 0% | 19% | 25% | |
| Physics | 11 | 9% | 18% | 27% | |
| Arabic | 9 | 0% | 33% | 56% | |
| English Literature | 9 | 0% | 11% | 44% | |
| Government and Politics | 9 | 0% | 0% | 11% | |
| History | 6 | 0% | 17% | 50% | |
| Sociology | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Urdu | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 12150: Ark Acton Academy
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 70% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 71% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Ealing council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.