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Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College

Secondary · Barking · IG11 9AG

Data updated

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Outstanding

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: OutstandingBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: OutstandingSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 31 January 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

2,418 pupils · 100% of 2,420 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
29.6% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
28% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
7.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.barkingabbeyschool.co.uk/
URN
101241

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 423 families named it first for 359 Year 7 places, 1.18 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 1.908 km (≈1.19 mi); distance decided places in 11 of the 13 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2011 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Outstanding on 31 January 2024, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.6% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.18 first-choice applications per place

359 places offered · 423 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 1.908 km (≈1.19 mi) for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 1.908 km (≈1.19 mi)

measured in a straight line.

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Would you have got in? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

353 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
49.7
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
70%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
50.7%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.3
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) B
38.8
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school49.7
Median of its 12 closest peers50
Barking and Dagenham average48.1
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Winchmore SchoolLondon · 10 miles awayGood46.2
The Sydney Russell SchoolDagenham · 1 miles awayStrong standard51.2
Trinity CofE High SchoolManchester · 165 miles awayGood50
Jo Richardson Community SchoolDagenham · 1 miles awayOutstanding50.2
Beal High SchoolIlford · 4 miles awayStrong standard52
Hampton CollegePeterborough · 70 miles awayGood44.5
The de Ferrers AcademyBurton-on-Trent · 116 miles awayGood46.5
Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science CollegeLuton · 35 miles awayGood50
St George's AcademySleaford · 103 miles awayGood39.3
Eastbury Community SchoolBarking · under 1 mile awayGood44.8
St Mary's College Voluntary Catholic AcademyHull · 155 miles awayOutstanding54.9
Cambourne Village CollegeCambridge · 47 miles awayOutstanding51.7

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision and SEN unit.

SEN unit
30 of 30 places taken full, or over capacity
Resourced provision
83 of 60 places taken full, or over capacity

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

Asian Bangladeshi 28% (Barking and Dagenham 13%, England 2%) · Asian Pakistani 16% (Barking and Dagenham 11%, England 5%) · Black African 14% (Barking and Dagenham 21%, England 5%) · White British 9% (Barking and Dagenham 16%, England 59%) · Any other White background 8% (Barking and Dagenham 12%, England 7%) · Asian Indian 6% (Barking and Dagenham 5%, England 4%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Barking and Dagenham 3%, England 3%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 3%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Barking and Dagenham 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 1%) · Not recorded 1% (Barking and Dagenham 2%, England 2%) · other groups together 0%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
5.6%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
14%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

9.03 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Barking and Dagenham: 5.95 suspensions and 0.14 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
17
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

86% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 4% moved to another state school · 10% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0.63% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained secondaries: 0.22% vacant, 0.42% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

80.7% of teachers took sickness absence, 10.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £54,473; 11.7% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£9,122
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 74% (77%) · premises 6% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 12% (7%) · supplies and services 7% (10%) · educational supplies 4% (6%) · bought-in professional services 3% (2%) · catering 7% (3%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £346,266; in-year balance -£751,246

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
94%
Continuing in education
93%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment

suppressed (small cohort)

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
56%
Apprenticeship
11%
Employment
13%
Any sustained destination
84%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
5/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher29.8%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications21.7%18.1%
In managerial or professional work22.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways26.1%18.1%
Residents in very good health52%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier61.6%62.3%
Social housing22.1%17.1%
Privately rented16.3%20.5%
Detached houses3%22.9%
Flats31%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms20.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van27.4%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01000066 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£490,000348 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£345,000–£558,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Semi-detached (34)£582,500
Terraced (250)£500,000
Flat (64)£238,500

Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (1.91 km, 2026 entry): 1,224 sales, median £399,500. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
3an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
8an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
32an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
5an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools