Rushey Mead Academy, Leicester

Ofsted's report card from its 12 May 2026 inspection grades Rushey Mead Academy on 6 areas: 6 exceptional. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Exceptional. "Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve extremely well."

Attendance and behaviour - Exceptional. "Attendance is excellent."

Curriculum and teaching - Exceptional. "Leaders have constructed a highly ambitious, challenging and interesting curriculum."

Inclusion - Exceptional. "Leaders and staff are united in their determination to make sure that all pupils benefit fully from the high-quality education and wider experiences that the school offers."

Leadership and governance - Exceptional. "Over a sustained period, leaders have skilfully created a curriculum and culture to make sure all pupils have a truly special, high-quality school experience."

Personal development and wellbeing - Exceptional. "The ‘Rushey Passport' underpins the excellent personal development programme."

Safeguarding standards were met.

In its own words: "Every member of the Rushey family, staff and students, is noticed, appreciated, and supported to succeed and have a true sense of belonging. We want our students to broaden their interests and to develop their personal qualities, by embracing our Rushey 1-2-3 Expectations of Be Kind, Work Hard, Develop your Whole Self."

From the headteacher's welcome: "At Rushey Mead Academy, we believe that all children are capable of remarkable things, and we serve our community to ensure that we support our children to achieve the very best they can. We are fiercely ambitious for each and every one of our students. Being firmly rooted in our community, we benefit from the support of our families."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, cricket, tennis, basketball, badminton, dance, drama and choir.

In 2026, pupils at Rushey Mead Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 56.8, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.1 in Leicester and 47 across England.

62% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 46% in Leicester and 47% in England.

That is up from 51.6 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.9: pupils made well above 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 50.1, against 59.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 9.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, French and Combined Science.

For September 2026 entry, 413 families put Rushey Mead Academy as their first choice and 820 named it as one of their preferences, for 356 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 71 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Rushey Mead Academy are Soar Valley College (0.3 miles, Attainment 8 49.6); Avanti Fields School (1.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 54.2); The Cedars Academy (1.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 45.4); and The Roundhill Academy (1.9 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 44.5).

Rushey Mead Academy's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Rushey Mead Academy is one of 16 schools run by The Mead Educational Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47 in 2024/25.

Of the 327 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 93% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 25% to a further education college, 1% to an apprenticeship and 0% into work.

88.2% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 187 pupils (10.4%) received SEN support and 38 (2.1%) 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 speech, language and communication needs.

Rushey Mead Academy has a SEN unit for speech, language and communication needs: 20 places, 6 pupils on roll.

The nearest tram or metro stop is Leicester North (Great Central Railway), about 1 mile away in a straight line.

9 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Rushey Mead School (opposite), 150 metres away.

In 2024/25, Rushey Mead Academy issued 127 suspensions, 7.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Rushey Mead Academy are Herrick Primary School (0.3 miles), Mellor Community Primary School (0.4 miles), Rushey Mead Primary School (0.4 miles) and Wyvern Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.