The Basildon Lower Academy
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The Basildon Lower Academy is a sponsored academy in Basildon for boys and girls aged 11 to 14. It has 892 pupils and room for 1,350. About 53 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 0 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 2% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Timberlog Close, Timberlog Lane, Basildon, SS14 1UX01268 552536basildonacademies.org.ukMs Rebecca Rees principalAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 27 January 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.
Ofsted has serious worries about this school. It is in requires significant improvement.
Earlier inspections (2)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 29 March 2023 | S5 Inspection | Requires improvement |
| 24 October 2019 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
463 places were empty (34% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 7% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
How places were given out for September 2026. The last place was given under this rule: Criterion C.
| Entry | Places | Applied at all | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 450 | 215 | – | LA |
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 40 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for secondary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (48), Moderate learning difficulty (34), language and communications needs (30), Autistic spectrum disorder (26), Other difficulty or disability (12), Specific learning difficulty (8).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 892 | 909 | 1,014 | 925 | 958 | 838 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 53% | 49% | 46% | 46% | 45% | 41% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 25% | 25% | 23% | 24% | 20% | 20% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 17% | 20% | 13% | 5% | 7% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 84.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 15.4% | 17.0% | 12.4% | 12.8% | 7.7% | 6.1% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.4% | 2.9% | 2.3% | 1.6% | 1.0% | 0.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 8.9% | 14.2% | 10.1% | 11.2% | 6.8% | 5.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 42.1% | 48.0% | 34.5% | 40.1% | 24.2% | 18.2% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 40.6 | 24.8 | 12.7 | 8.0 | 1.9 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – |
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 secondary 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Basildon Upper Academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 847 | Good 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| De La Salle School | Roman Catholic | 1.1 miles | 761 | Good 2024 | 40 | Compare |
| Woodlands School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 1,513 | Good 2023 | 30 | Compare |
| The Bromfords School | Academy | 2.3 miles | 1,181 | No overall grade 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| The James Hornsby School | Academy | 2.5 miles | 1,040 | Report card 2026 | 27 | Compare |
| The Appleton School | Academy | 2.8 miles | 1,597 | Not inspected | 14 | Compare |
| Mossbourne Fobbing Academy | Academy | 3.3 miles | 859 | Report card 2026 | – | Compare |
| Beauchamps High School | Foundation | 3.6 miles | 1,486 | No overall grade 2025 | 60 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Basildon Lower Academy with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than The Basildon Lower Academy, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bower Park Academy | Academy | 13.5 miles | 965 | Good 2023 | 18 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 0 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 0% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 0 to 0. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well below | -1.30 | Ofsted report card, 0.6 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well below | -0.67 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.44 | 2024/25; 1,027 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What pupils do next | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 5% | well below | -0.21 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 40 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is The Basildon Lower Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. The Basildon Lower Academy scores 0 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 2% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 0 to 0, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is The Basildon Lower Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 27 January 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as urgent improvement, leadership as needs attention.
How many pupils does The Basildon Lower Academy have?
892 pupils aged 11 to 14 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,350 places, so it is 66% full.
Is The Basildon Lower Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 463 places were empty in 2024/25 (34% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at The Basildon Lower Academy?
Pupils were in school 84.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 42% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about The Basildon Lower Academy?
40% of the 40 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 38% say their child is happy there. Across England, 77% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at The Basildon Lower Academy?
The average class had 23.4 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Timberlog Close, Timberlog Lane, Basildon, SS14 1UX
- Telephone
- 01268 552536
- Website
- www.basildonacademies.org.uk
- Principal
- Ms Rebecca Rees
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-14
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The Basildon Academies (2 schools)
- Local authority
- Essex
- Ward
- St Martin's
- Constituency
- Basildon and Billericay
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2009 (new provision)
- URN
- 135895 · LAESTAB 8816908 · UKPRN 10029912
- Formerly
- Chalvedon School, Barstable School
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.
- 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.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Essex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- 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.