Ark Pioneer Academy
Secondary · Barnet · EN5 2BE
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 13 September 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,107 pupils · 92% of 1,200 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Free schools
- Age range
- 11–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 39.3% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 33.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 12.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 3.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Website
- https://arkpioneer.org/
- URN
- 147061
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 167 families named it first for 170 Year 7 places, 0.98 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2025 entry went to 1.132 miles; distance decided places in 7 of the 7 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2019 to 2025. Ofsted last graded it Outstanding on 13 September 2023, 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
0.98 first-choice applications per place170 places offered · 167 first-choice applications · roughly balanced
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 1.132 miles for 2025 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry) lived within 1.132 miles
measurement method not stated by the council.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Barnet school admissions · the wider Barnet authority
GCSE results (2024/2025)
177 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.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 22% (Barnet 23%, England 59%) · Any other White background 19% (Barnet 20%, England 7%) · Black African 14% (Barnet 8%, England 5%) · Any other ethnic group 13% (Barnet 12%, England 3%) · Any other Mixed background 7% (Barnet 7%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 5% (Barnet 8%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Barnet 3%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 3% (Barnet 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Barnet 1%, England 1%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Barnet 4%, England 3%) · Black Caribbean 2% (Barnet 2%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Barnet 2%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Barnet 1%, England 2%) · Not recorded 1% (Barnet 2%, England 2%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Barnet 1%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 1% (Barnet 1%, England 1%)
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)
15.13 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Barnet: 9.29 suspensions and 0.08 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
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)
88% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 4% moved to another state school · 8% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% 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)
80% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.1 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 £47,876; 11.3% 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 76% (77%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 9% (6%) · supplies and services 12% (11%) · educational supplies 9% (6%) · bought-in professional services 0% (1%) · catering 3% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £92,000; in-year balance +£280,000
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 13 September 2023: Outstanding
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 6/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 7/10less deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 45.9% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 13.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 43.2% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 14.7% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 54.7% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 74.6% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 12.4% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 13.1% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 1.2% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 12.6% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 28.4% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 19.2% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01000288 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £592,500370 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £400,000–£754,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are among the dearest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
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
- 6an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 17an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 72an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 12an 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