Leigh Academy Strood

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Rochester, Medway·ME2 2SX
Composite score
51.5
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#2,350
National rank
#347
In South East
#11
In Medway
Top 74%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
41.2
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
23%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
56%
% EBacc grade 5+
8%
EBacc average points score
3.60

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
199 first choices, 246 places
First choices per place
0.81
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
497
any preference, for 246 places
Applications from another council area
4%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.15
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8720220.8320230.8320240.6620250.812026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Leigh Academy Strood first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–19
Pupils on roll
1,305
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
38.4%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
10.7%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
10.7%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.2%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
9.1%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
30.5%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
18.5
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£6,357
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
90%
215 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
79%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
6%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Leigh Academy Strood is a secondary school serving Rochester, Medway, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. It has 1,305 pupils aged 11 to 19 on roll. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 41.2, below the national average of 46. Results have held broadly steady on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

23% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 56% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Leigh Academy Strood was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 199 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 90% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.1%. There are about 18.5 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 38% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Leigh Academy Strood does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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