Harris Academy Orpington

About Harris Academy Orpington

Harris Academy Orpington has been rated Good overall by Ofsted following its most recent graded inspection in 2023, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019. The school’s strongest academic metric is its Progress 8 score of 0.15, which places it in the Average band nationally. This means that, on average, pupils achieve slightly better than expected across their eight best GCSE subjects compared with students nationally with similar starting points. The school ranks 9th out of 19 secondary schools in Bromley on this measure, putting it just above the local authority average Progress 8 score of 0.13. Within London, it sits at 314th out of 487 schools, and nationally at 1209th out of 3141. The Attainment 8 score of 43 indicates that pupils achieve the equivalent of just under a grade 5 per subject, while 57.9% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, and 34.7% achieved a grade 5 or above.

The school’s sixth form provision was rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and its personal development was also judged Outstanding. However, the sixth form’s value-added score of -0.3 is classified as Below average, with an average points per entry of 28.33, equivalent to a C- grade. The best three A-levels average grade is also C-, and no students achieved AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects. At Key Stage 4, the school’s EBacc average point score is 4.05, and 72.7% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects, though only 16.5% achieved a grade 5 or above in those subjects. The Progress 8 breakdown shows positive scores in English (0.25), maths (0.22), and the EBacc bucket (0.27), but a slightly negative score in the Open bucket (-0.1). With 49.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a significantly disadvantaged cohort, making its overall Good rating and positive Progress 8 score particularly noteworthy.

The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 178 applications for 110 places and 57 first-preference offers. Facilities include a theatre, library, sixth form centre, ICT suite, music rooms, and science labs. Sports on offer range from rowing and hockey to martial arts and gymnastics, and clubs include science club, orchestra, eco club, coding, young enterprise, choir, and chess. The school has a wide range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that has turned around its performance and now offers a solid academic experience, particularly at GCSE level, with a strong sixth form in terms of Ofsted judgement. It will suit families in Bromley looking for a non-selective state secondary that supports a diverse intake and provides good pastoral care alongside a broad extracurricular programme.

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