Heron Academy
Heron Academy is a sponsored special academy in London for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 86 pupils and room for 90. About 60 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Heron Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0HZ020 7326 5898heron.lseat.org.ukMs Melanie Hall-Judd headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 12 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 10 November 2021 | S8 No Formal Designation Visit | Inadequate |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
9 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Lambeth council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, profound and multiple learning difficulties, specific learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Lambeth with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (29), Specific learning difficulty (21), Severe learning difficulty (14), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (6), Other difficulty or disability (5), language and communications needs (4).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 86 | 81 | 79 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 63% | 74% | 68% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 29% | 32% | 38% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 82.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 17.7% | 13.7% | 13.4% | 18.5% | 13.2% | 9.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 16.0% | 12.5% | 13.2% | 10.5% | 10.4% | 8.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 8.0% | 2.8% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 43.1% | 37.0% | 36.1% | 51.1% | 46.2% | 36.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 2.5 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for The Michael Tippett School, the school this one replaced in February 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessop Primary School | Council | 190 m | 281 | Outstanding 2024 | 98 | Compare |
| Ark Evelyn Grace Academy | Academy | 250 m | 320 | No overall grade 2025 | 28 | Compare |
| St Saviour's Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 310 m | 114 | Good 2024 | 24 | Compare |
| Hill Mead Primary School | Council | 470 m | 228 | Requires improvement 2024 | 7 | Compare |
| Herne Hill School | Independent | 770 m | 304 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Effra Nursery School and Children's Centre | Local authority nursery school | 780 m | 68 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Triangle Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 840 m | 18 | Outstanding 2019 | – | Compare |
| St Jude's Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 860 m | 168 | Good 2022 | 54 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Heron Academy a good school?
Heron Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from May 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.
What is Heron Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 12 May 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Heron Academy have?
86 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 90 places, so it is 96% full.
What is attendance like at Heron Academy?
Pupils were in school 82.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 43% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Heron Academy have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, profound and multiple learning difficulties, specific learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Heron Academy have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Heron Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0HZ
- Telephone
- 020 7326 5898
- Website
- heron.lseat.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Ms Melanie Hall-Judd
- Type of school
- Sponsored special academy (Academy special sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- London South East Academies Trust (19 schools)
- Local authority
- Lambeth
- Ward
- Herne Hill & Loughborough Junction
- Constituency
- Dulwich and West Norwood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 February 2023 (new provision)
- URN
- 149331 · LAESTAB 2087002 · UKPRN 10091131
- Formerly
- The Michael Tippett School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.