Ark Acton Academy

About Ark Acton Academy

Ark Acton Academy is a mixed secondary school in Ealing with a current roll of 804 pupils, well below its official capacity of 1,400. That gap suggests the school has room to grow, but the demand picture is more nuanced. For the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school received 221 applications for 151 places, making it officially oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.46 applicants per place. However, only 41 of those applications were first-preference choices, which means the majority of families who applied ranked other schools higher. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 50.6%, more than double the national average for secondary schools and a clear signal that the school serves a significantly disadvantaged intake. Headteacher Sarah Donachy leads a school that, in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, was rated Good across all categories including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership — a notable turnaround from its previous Inadequate rating in 2017.

Academically, Ark Acton delivers results that are broadly in line with the national average, with some bright spots. Its Progress 8 score of +0.2 means pupils achieve about two months more progress than similar students nationally, though this sits below the Ealing local authority average of +0.5. Within the borough, the school ranks 12th out of 16 secondary schools by this measure, placing it in the bottom quarter locally. Attainment 8 sits at 46.2, and 62.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, dropping to 46.4% at the stronger grade 5 threshold. The EBacc average point score is 4.24, and just over half of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects. At sixth form, the school has 45 students and a value-added score of -0.07, which is classed as average. The average A-level grade per entry is a C, with points per entry at 28.62. Nationally, the school ranks in the 34th percentile for Progress 8, putting it in the lower half of schools across England.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, astro turf, tennis courts, and dedicated sixth form centre. Sports provision covers gymnastics, netball, cricket, rugby, swimming, athletics, and football, while extracurricular options include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Model UN, Young Enterprise, debate, orchestra, and coding club. SEND support is comprehensive, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech and language challenges, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families weighing options in Ealing, Ark Acton is a school that has improved its Ofsted rating significantly and serves a high-needs community, but its local ranking and first-preference data suggest it may not be the first choice for most families in the borough. It could suit parents who value a broad extracurricular offer and strong SEND support over top-tier academic outcomes.

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