Orchards Academy

About Orchards Academy

Orchards Academy is a secondary school in Swanley, Kent, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. Around 545 pupils aged 11 to 18 attend the school. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 41.3, 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.

33% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 62% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Orchards Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 95 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 86% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.4%. There are about 19.5 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 45% 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. Orchards Academy 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.