Rushey Mead Academy

About Rushey Mead Academy

Rushey Mead Academy's headline Progress 8 score of 0.9 places it well above the Leicester local authority average of 0.12, a gap that marks it as one of the strongest performers in the city. In fact, the school ranks second out of 20 secondary schools in Leicester, sitting in the top 10% locally and in the top 4% nationally. Its Progress 8 banding is officially rated as "well above average", and the school is one of only six in the entire local authority to hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating. That rating was confirmed in a 2022 inspection, where every single category — quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management — was graded Outstanding. The school is also heavily oversubscribed: for 358 places in the 2025/26 intake, it received 814 applications, with 426 first-preference applications and 338 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.27.

Academically, the school's results are consistently strong across the board. Its Attainment 8 score sits at 54.4, and 78% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, with 59.6% reaching the higher grade 5 threshold. The EBacc average point score is 5.33, and 86.2% of pupils entered the EBacc combination of subjects, with 61.5% achieving a grade 4 or above across all five pillars. Digging into the Progress 8 breakdown, the strongest subject area is the EBacc bucket, where the school scores 1.27, followed by maths at 0.9 and English at 0.44. The open element — covering other GCSE subjects — comes in at 0.77. These figures suggest that the school is particularly effective at driving progress in the core academic subjects that matter most for future study, while still delivering strong results across the wider curriculum.

The school is a large 11-16 mixed secondary with 1,779 pupils on roll, well above its official capacity of 1,620. It has no sixth form, so pupils will need to move on after Year 11. Facilities include science labs, art studios, music rooms, a sports hall, gymnasium, playing fields, and a library, with clubs ranging from coding and science club to orchestra, choir, and Model UN. The school offers a dedicated SEN unit and supports a wide range of needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and social, emotional and mental health needs. With 22.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a diverse catchment. It will particularly suit families looking for a high-performing, oversubscribed state school where academic progress is consistently well above the local average and where the Ofsted rating is at the highest possible level.

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