Castle Mead Academy
Secondary · Free schools · Mixed · Leicester
Richard III Road, Leicester, LE3 5QT
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 24/10/2023
Application demand
74%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
90.7%
23.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,223
Capacity used
Over capacity102%
1,200 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
74%
1st preference success rate
233 of 316 families who put it first got an offer
250
Places offered
694
Total applications
2.8
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 316 | 233 | ● 74% |
| 2nd preference | 232 | 15 | ● 6% |
| 3rd preference | 100 | 1 | ● 1% |
| 4th preference | 46 | 1 | ● 2% |
| Total | 694 | 250 | 36% |
1st preference success by year
Leicester lets families list 4 preferences. 45 applications came from outside the council area (3 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
- Free schools
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Headteacher
- Chloe French
- Address
- Richard III Road, Leicester, LE3 5QT
- Phone
- 01162143150
- Local authority
- Leicester
- Ward / constituency
- Fosse · Leicester West
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 147068
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 48% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 40% | — | — |
| SEN support | 17% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE MEAD EDUCATIONAL TRUST
1,223 pupils · 1,200 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
24 October 2023
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,311 pupils
Attendance
90.7%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.3%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
23.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
6.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.5%
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 | 47.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.14 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 50% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 70% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.45 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 48 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 55.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 70.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 78% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.56 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 246 | — |
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.
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 | 245 | 25% | 62% | 76% | |
| English Language | 245 | 20% | 56% | 72% | |
| Religious Studies | 232 | 22% | 53% | 66% | |
| English Literature | 225 | 26% | 69% | 82% | |
| French | 211 | 18% | 50% | 65% | |
| Combined Science | 192 | 11% | 49% | 64% | |
| History | 126 | 31% | 57% | 69% | |
| Geography | 77 | 26% | 69% | 81% | |
| Computer Science | 54 | 56% | 89% | 93% | |
| Art and Design | 48 | 13% | 31% | 48% | |
| Biology | 43 | 53% | 98% | 100% | |
| Physics | 43 | 49% | 98% | 100% |
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 Leicester 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.