Bolder Academy

Free schools·Secondary school Isleworth, Hounslow·TW7 5DB
Composite score
57.0
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#1,609
National rank
#335
In London
#14
In Hounslow
Top 51%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
45.6
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
41%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
62%
% EBacc grade 5+
19%
EBacc average points score
4.25

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
114 first choices, 167 places
First choices per place
0.68
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
449
any preference, for 167 places
Last place offered lived
5.63 mi
straight line, 2025 intake · 9067 m
Applications from another council area
3%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.06
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0320220.8820230.7720240.7420250.682026

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

The cut-off distance is how far the last child offered a place lived, not a catchment boundary: it moves every year with the number of applicants. Published by the council in its 2025 allocation figures, and checked against that document before we show it. In 2026 the school was not oversubscribed, so no distance limit applied.

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

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
955
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
31.8%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
36.8%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.2%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.2%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.6%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
23.1%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
14.9
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,379
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
92%
142 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
92%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
0%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

Bolder Academy at a glance

Located in Isleworth, Hounslow, Bolder Academy is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a free school. The school educates roughly 955 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.6, broadly in line with the national average of 46. That is down 3.7 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.

41% 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. Bolder Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 114 families who put it first were offered a place. The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2025 lived 5.63 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. After Year 11, 92% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.6%. There are about 14.9 pupils per teacher. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. 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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