London Academy of Excellence

Free school in Stratford, England

London Academy of Excellence Stratford

Address

Broadway House 322 Stratford High Street

Stratford

E15 1AJ

England

Information
Type| Free School
Motto| The academic sixth form for independent thinkers
Established| 2012
Local authority| Newham
Department for Education URN| 138403 Tables
Ofsted| Reports
Chair of Governors| Tony Little (headmaster)
Headteacher| Alex Crossman
Gender| Coeducational
Age| 16 to 19
Enrolment| As of 2025[update], 476[1]
Capacity| As of 2025[update], 800[1]
Houses|

* Eton
* Caterham
* Highgate
* Brighton
* University College School
* Forest

Website| http://www.lae.ac.uk/

The London Academy of Excellence, Stratford (LAE) is a selective free school sixth form school located in the Stratford area of the London Borough of Newham, England. It has approximately 500 pupils and 32 teachers.[2]

## Background

[edit]

The school first opened in 2012 in collaboration with seven independent schools - Brighton College, Caterham School, Eton College, City of London School, Forest School, Highgate School and University College School, six of which continue to support the school as 'partner schools'.[3] Its relationship with Eton College has led to the school being dubbed 'the Eton of the East End' by the national media.[4]

LAE is a flagship of the government's academies programme. It was visited by Michael Gove in February 2014, who called it a "superb new free school".[5] As well as state funding, the school raises funds from corporate and other philanthropic donors in order to offer sports and recreation activities, clubs, societies, a lecture programme and an outreach program to complement academic studies.[3]

The school offers an academic A-Level curriculum designed to facilitate student's entry on to competitive degree courses at leading universities. Conditional offers of places are made on the basis of student's predicted GCSE results. In 2025, the school received over 7,000 initial applications for 250 available places.[6] The LAE will increase the number of places available following relocation to its new buildings in 2026.[7]

In 2015, the Sunday Times awarded the school with the title of 'The Sunday Times Sixth-form College of The Year'. It was the first free school to be named the best sixth form in the country".[8]

In June 2022 the school was shortlisted in the top 10 schools for the World's Best School Prize in the category of 'Supporting Healthy Living' in recognition of the wellbeing offer in the school.[9]

## Results

[edit]

The school was inspected in October 2017 and was awarded “outstanding” in all areas.[10] The school's "outstanding" judgement was confirmed by Ofsted in March 2024. [11]

In 2024, the LAE achieved record results with 73% of all A-Levels grades A*/A, and 96% A*-B. The LAE also ranked among the top five state schools in England for A level outcomes. [12]

## Controversies

[edit]

In 2022 a small group of LAE alumni working with Cage UK, MEND and Azad Ali listed a number of allegations against the school, that the school released a statement refuting.[13]

In March 2022 the school appointed an external investigator to investigate the complaint,[14][better source needed] concluding that there is no evidence that the LAE or any of its staff, either past or serving, discriminated against Muslim students and finds that the School’s Governing Board acted appropriately and transparently in its decision to discontinue multi-faith facilities at LAE in September 2015. Independent from the campaign the school has facilitated the use of on-site space for students wishing to pray.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "London Academy of Excellence". Get Information about Schools. Gov.UK. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
2. ^ "London Academy of Excellence - GOV.UK". www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
3. ^ a b "Headmaster of 'East End Eton': Our school raises aspirations". Evening Standard. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
4. ^ "Eton of the East End | The Sunday Times". www.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
5. ^ "Michael Gove speaks about securing our children's future - Speeches - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
6. ^ "Entry Requirements - London Academy of Excellence". www.excellencelondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
7. ^ "LAE Prospectus 2024-25".
8. ^ O'Reilly, Judith (22 November 2015). "Free school sets gold standard". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016.
9. ^ "World's Best School Prize for Supporting Healthy Lives (Top 10 Shortlist)".
10. ^ "Ofsted report" (PDF).
11. ^ "Short inspection of London Academy of Excellence" (PDF). Ofsted.
12. ^ "Best schools in the UK 2025". www.thetimes.com.
13. ^ "EXPOSING LAE|Justice for LAE alumni". LAE-XPOSED. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
14. ^ "Independent investigator's report - London Academy of Excellence".

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