Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not

Ark works to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life.

Pupils at Ark White City Primary loving their brand new playground

Changing over a million young lives since 2002

30k

Thirty thousand students currently served across our network of 39 schools

300k

Three hundred thousand pupils supported through Ark-designed curricula

1 mil

One million children reached via our wider education, health and social care ventures

Closing the achievement gap by working where we can make the biggest difference

90%

Ninety percent of Ark schools are in areas with above average deprivation. Ark’s students are nearly twice as likely to be eligible for free school meals than students nationally (45 v 25 percent).

69%

Sixty-nine percent of children eligible for pupil premium leave an Ark primary school on track in their maths and English, compared to 46 percent nationally.

Ark students who are eligible for pupil premium make nearly half a grade more progress in each of their subjects than their peers nationally, and are six times more likely to attend a top third university than if they attend a maintained school.

Pupils during a lesson at Ark Castledown in Hastings

A top performing primary multi-academy trust

Despite operating in areas of high need, our primary schools achieve results well above national averages and we top the attainment tables among comparable trusts.

Turning around underachievement in Hastings

Ark students are twice as likely to go to university

83%

Eighty-three percent of our sixth form graduates progress to university, compared to 37 percent nationally

70%

Of those progressing to university, 70 percent go to a top third university compared to 38 percent nationally

Students on our BTEC programme are around nine times more likely to progress to a top third university than BTEC students nationally

A strong track record for school improvement

Most Ark schools were existing schools that joined the network to improve – often from difficult circumstances. Ninety-four percent of schools rated Inadequate or in Special Measures before joining Ark, are now Good or Outstanding according to Ofsted.

Ark’s new schools are nearly four times more likely to be rated Outstanding than schools nationally (69 vs 16 percent).

Schools joining Ark have improved their national percentile rank by an average of 44 percentage points

Principal Matt Neuberger with students at Ark Soane Academy

Ark Soane rated Outstanding three years after opening

Ark’s newest school, Ark Soane, opened in Acton, London, in 2021. It provides high-quality, non-selective, non-denominational education in an area of high deprivation, and was rated Outstanding in a recent Ofsted inspection.

Ark Soane rated Outstanding

4,000

Four thousand students across the network performed with Ark Music in the past year

Ark Music

2,500

Two and a half thousand students competed in network-wide sporting events

Ark Sport

Fifteen arts organisations worked in partnership with Ark Culture over the year

Arts and Culture

Sporting success at Ark Globe

Through Ark Sport Scholarships, we are providing free training and development for high ability students, so that every child has a genuine chance of success. Three scholars at Ark Globe have met with success at a national level.

Ark athletes triumph on the national stage

Ark Start John Archer in south west London was one of the first Ark Start nurseries to open

High quality, affordable early years education

Our nursery programme, Ark Start, seeks to solve the inequity that exists in the early years. The network is growing, with new nurseries being added both within and external to Ark’s network of primary schools.

Firm foundations: Ark Start

Subject mastery programmes benefitting 300,000 children nationally

9000

Nine thousand teachers in over 700 schools use the Ark Curriculum Plus online platform for resources and training

2+ mo

Pupils on our Mathematics Mastery primary programme gain up to two months’ additional progress

Ark Curriculum Plus

The EdCity development, as viewed from South Africa Road in White City

£150 million investment in the heart of White City

Our partnership with Hammersmith and Fulham Council creates an education hub, 132 affordable new homes, office space and a youth zone for the local community.

More about EdCity