Ark Greenwich Free School
Secondary · London · SE18 4LH
Data updated
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.
Inspected 25 April 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
615 pupils · 102% of 600 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Free schools
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 41.4% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 20.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 13.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- URN
- 138245
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 357 families named it first for 115 Year 7 places, 3.10 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 1065.96 m (≈0.66 mi); distance decided places in 9 of the 15 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2012 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Outstanding on 25 April 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 3.8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
3.10 first-choice applications per place115 places offered · 357 first-choice applications · heavily oversubscribed
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
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 1065.96 m (≈0.66 mi) for 2026 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 1065.96 m (≈0.66 mi)
measured in a straight line.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: London school admissions · Greenwich school admissions
GCSE results (2024/2025)
102 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
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.
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is ahead of 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Laureate Academy | 41.7 | |
| Kearsley Academy | 51.8 | |
| Rhyddings | 36.5 | |
| Giles Academy | 38.6 | |
| St Aidan's Church of England Academy | 40 | |
| Oasis Academy Immingham | 39.7 | |
| Lodge Park Academy | 33.5 | |
| Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet | 42.5 | |
| Chessington School | 43.4 | |
| Thomas More Catholic School | 42.1 | |
| Ash Green School | 40.7 | |
| Philips High School | 50.3 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
Black African 30% (Greenwich 24%, England 5%) · White British 12% (Greenwich 29%, England 59%) · Any other White background 12% (Greenwich 11%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 10% (Greenwich 6%, England 3%) · Any other ethnic group 6% (Greenwich 4%, England 3%) · Not recorded 6% (Greenwich 4%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Greenwich 4%, England 3%) · Asian Chinese 3% (Greenwich 1%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Greenwich 3%, England 2%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Greenwich 3%, England 1%) · Asian Indian 2% (Greenwich 2%, England 4%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Greenwich 1%, England 5%) · Any other Black background 2% (Greenwich 4%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Greenwich 3%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Greenwich 2%, England 2%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Greenwich 1%, England 2%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
26.62 suspensions per 100 pupils and 3 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Greenwich: 14.36 suspensions and 0.13 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
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Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →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
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
76% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 15% moved to another state school · 9% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
4.75% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
79.2% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.3 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 £53,057; 12.2% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 75% (77%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (6%) · supplies and services 12% (11%) · educational supplies 10% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 2% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £508,000; in-year balance +£11,000
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
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Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 25 April 2023: Outstanding
- 17 November 2021: S8 No Formal Designation Visit
- 11 February 2020: Section 8 inspections of good and non-exempt outstanding schools
- 17 May 2016: Good
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)
- 4/10more deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 48.4% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 15.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 42.8% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 18.5% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 56.3% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 32.9% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 30.2% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 36.3% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 1.8% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 61% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 13.7% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 42.7% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01001701 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £459,500312 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £364,000–£540,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
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 (1.07 km, 2026 entry): 362 sales, median £460,000. 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
- 4an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 9an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 51an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 8an 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