Acland Burghley School, London
Acland Burghley School is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in London. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in March 2018. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in October 2023 did not change this grade. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 77th-highest of the 266 schools in London with published results, and 478th of 3,298 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.2 first-choice applications for every place. It was 81% full in 2025.
- GCSE results
- Above England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2018)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
- Progress (2024)
- Below average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 5 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Camden (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Acland Burghley School in detail
Results
In 2026, pupils at Acland Burghley School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 55.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 49.1 in Camden and 47 across England.
61% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 52% in Camden and 47% in England.
That is up from 49.9 in 2025.
Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.3: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.
Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 38.2, against 64.8 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 26.6 points.
Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Social Studies.
Getting a place at Acland Burghley School
For September 2026 entry, 213 families put Acland Burghley School as their first choice and 647 named it as one of their preferences, for 171 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 61 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Acland Burghley School
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Acland Burghley School are Parliament Hill School (0.4 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 58.6); La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School (0.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 54.4); LaSWAP Sixth Form (0.4 miles); and William Ellis School (0.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.8).
Acland Burghley School's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 3 schools.
Parliament Hill SchoolLa Sainte Union Catholic Secondary SchoolLaSWAP Sixth FormWilliam Ellis School
Where pupils go next
Of the 182 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 95% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 26% to a further education college and 1% into work.
Of the 127 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 43% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 21% into work. 13% went to one of the most selective third of universities.
Who goes there
34% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 272 pupils (21.7%) received SEN support and 98 (7.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.
Acland Burghley School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 24 pupils on roll.
Staffing
Acland Burghley School had 95 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.
Getting there
The nearest Underground station is Tufnell Park Underground Station, about 200 metres away (roughly a 3-minute walk).
18 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Acland Burghley School, 160 metres away.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Acland Burghley School issued 150 suspensions, 12.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Acland Burghley School are Eleanor Palmer Primary School (0.2 miles), Brookfield Primary School (0.4 miles), Hargrave Park School (0.5 miles) and Gospel Oak Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
Eleanor Palmer Primary SchoolBrookfield Primary SchoolHargrave Park SchoolGospel Oak Primary School
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 3 years agoThis judgement is from March 2018, 8 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: The school remains Good.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's October 2023 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Acland Burghley creates a truly inclusive environment where children with additional needs receive personalised support while accessing the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Teachers are knowledgeable and present information clearly, and the school provides excellent reading support with regular reading opportunities throughout the school day. Beyond academics, the school offers outstanding enrichment through music, sports, leadership roles, and cultural visits that help all pupils develop confidence and broaden their horizons.
Key Strengths
- Strong inclusive community where all pupils feel welcomed and safe
- Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and make adaptations for pupils with SEND to access the same ambitious curriculum
- Swift identification of pupils struggling with reading and rapid improvements in fluency and confidence
- Comprehensive personal development curriculum that effectively teaches pupils how to stay safe and healthy
- Broad range of enrichment activities including outings to concerts, museums and outdoor centres
Areas for Improvement
- Teaching does not consistently check and deepen pupils' understanding before moving on to new content, affecting long-term memory
- Staff expectations are sometimes not consistently high, resulting in some pupils losing focus in lessons
- Not all staff maintain consistently high standards for the quality of work pupils produce
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with staff knowing pupils very well and putting systems in place to ensure they are safe.
Extracurricular Activities
Creative writing club, debating club, coding club, student-delivered clubs, student council, diversity group, eco-warriors, sports clubs and competitions, choirs, ensembles, partnership with professional orchestra, assemblies, podcasts, in-class debates, careers talks and workshops, outings to concerts, museums, outdoor activities centre
Acland Burghley School is a good secondary school where leaders have created an inclusive community with high expectations for all pupils. Pupils behave well, enjoy school, and benefit from a well-planned ambitious curriculum.
About
Acland Burghley School is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in the Tufnell Park area of the London Borough of Camden, in London, England. The school received specialist status as an Arts College in 2000 and is a part of the LaSWAP Sixth Form Consortium.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
34.0%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
Yes
Sixth Form
Resourced provision: Autism
SEN Provision
No
Special Measures
Secondary Performance (GCSE)
Academic year 2025/26GCSE Results
2025/26 academic year
Progress 8 has declined from -0.16 to -0.30 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has improved from 50.3 to 55.2 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has improved from 57% to 61% (2023 to 2026).
Performance by Group
| Group | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | Eng+Maths 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pupils | - | 55.2 | 61.2% |
| Disadvantaged(66) | - | 38.2 | 34.8% |
| Not known to be disadvantaged(117) | - | 64.8 | 76.1% |
| Boys(130) | - | 59.8 | 71.5% |
| Girls(53) | - | 43.9 | 35.8% |
Show more breakdowns (2)
| Known or believed to be other than English(32) | - | 61.2 | 71.9% |
| Non mobile(179) | - | 54.9 | 60.3% |
2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data
GCSE Subjects Offered
+ 5 more subjects
2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils
After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations
After GCSEs (Year 11) - 182 students
2023/24 data
Exclusions & Suspensions
1
Permanent exclusions
0.08%
Exclusion rate
150
Suspensions
12.32%
Suspension rate
71 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 1,218 pupils
2024/25 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby secondary schools
Keep up with Acland Burghley School
Getting There
Train Stations
Tube / Metro / Tram
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Acland Burghley School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Acland Burghley School is in Camden; for families living there:
Apply to Camden for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 132
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 18
- Children hurt
- 4
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 132 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 18 serious and 114 slight.
4 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
26 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Camden is 130 (the median across 102 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Acland Burghley School
Will you get a place at Acland Burghley School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Acland Burghley School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Acland Burghley School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Acland Burghley School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Camden, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Acland Burghley School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Camden got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
81%
Available places
1,211 pupils
1,495 places
284 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - London
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for London
Across Camden council
Places available
1,577
Applications
1,261
Got 1st preference
73.7%
Got preferred school
93.3%
All secondary applications across Camden council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(12)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
272
SEN Support
98
EHC Plans
29.6%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Acland Burghley School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 24 pupils on roll.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
1,252
Total Pupils
802
Boys
450
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
95
Teachers
13.2:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£61,901
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£8,945
Per pupil
£8744k
Total funding
£405k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
8.8%
Overall absence
26.1%
Persistent absence
932
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Acland Burghley School
Showing 10 of 13 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Acland Burghley School
What are GCSE results like at Acland Burghley School?
In the 2026 results, pupils at Acland Burghley School achieved an Attainment 8 score of 55.2. 61% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.
What is Acland Burghley School's Ofsted rating?
Acland Burghley School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in October 2023, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in March 2018, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Acland Burghley School?
No fixed boundary. When Acland Burghley School is oversubscribed, Camden allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Acland Burghley School?
Acland Burghley School was not full in 2025: it ran at 81% of its 1495 places.
How big are the classes at Acland Burghley School?
Classes at Acland Burghley School average 20.8 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Acland Burghley School?
Acland Burghley School has around 1252 pupils on roll. 34% are eligible for free school meals.
Does Acland Burghley School have specialist SEN provision?
Acland Burghley School has a resourced provision for autism: 25 places, 24 pupils on roll.
What is attendance like at Acland Burghley School?
8.8% of sessions were missed at Acland Burghley School in 2024/25. 26.1% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Acland Burghley School?
Apply through Camden's coordinated admissions process, naming Acland Burghley School on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Acland Burghley School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 132 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 18 serious and 114 slight. 4 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 3 on foot and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 26 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Camden is 130 (the median across 102 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Acland Burghley School?
Acland Burghley School is at Burghley Road, London, NW5 1UJ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)