New ISI Report: Top Marks for Leighton Park!

The Independent School Inspectorate (ISI) have awarded Leighton Park a ‘double excellent’ standard, the highest possible attainment for an independent school, in recognition of both the quality of pupils’ personal development and the quality of their academic progress. We are delighted to share the key findings with you below and encourage you to read the full report for more detail.

Key findings:

The quality of the pupils’ academic and other achievements is excellent.

• Pupils’ performance in public examinations has shown significant improvement in recent years.
• Pupils, including those with SEND/EAL, make extremely good progress from their starting points.
• Pupils have very well-developed communication skills; they are articulate and confident speakers and listen and respond with notable maturity.
• Pupils show extremely positive attitudes to learning and are hardworking and resilient.

The quality of the pupils’ personal development is excellent.

• Pupils have a highly developed spiritual understanding and an appreciation of the non-material aspects of life which is underpinned by the School’s Quaker values.
• Pupils demonstrate extremely well-developed moral awareness in their behaviour and in their attitudes to others.
• Pupils show an outstanding commitment to contributing to their School, including boarding, to local communities and to the wider world.
• Pupils’ belief in the importance of respect, tolerance, equality, and kindness is strongly evident in their behaviour and relationships.”

Head, Matthew Judd, commented,“This is the first occasion that Leighton Park has gained the top category in all areas of an inspection. Furthermore, the report is exceptionally positive about every area of School life. This is testament to the collective commitment and dedication of the whole Leighton Park community, students, parents, staff, governors and Old Leightonians. Leighton Park is a truly remarkable school and I am tremendously pleased that the work and character of all of the community has been recognised this way.”

Jan Digby, Chair of Governors, added “The board are thrilled with the outcome of the report, not least because it demonstrates the significant progress that the School has made whilst still cherishing our Quaker values”.

The report follows several accolades for Leighton Park in recent years. In 2021, the School was awarded Best Co-ed School 2021, South East England, whilst also picking up the national Independent Schools Association (ISA) Award for Outstanding Local Community Involvement for the second year running. In 2020, the school won the national Award for Excellence in STEAM Education – reflecting the school’s strong reputation for combining the analytical skills from Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), with creativity from the Arts.

The UK Government’s own analysis shows that Leighton Park’s Sixth Form leavers achieve the best academic progress of any school in Berkshire, and 14^th among boarding schools in England.