LEAP Federation

What LEAP Federation does

LEAP Federation (legal name: The LEAP Federation) is a public sector federation of four local authority-maintained primary schools in the London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom: Kingsmead, Mandeville, Gayhurst, and Grasmere. Established in 2015 as a federation of three schools (formalised under a single governing body in June 2017) and expanded to four schools when Grasmere joined in September 2025, LEAP operates under the oversight of the London Borough of Hackney and is funded through Department for Education per-pupil allocations routed via Hackney Education. The federation is governed by a single federated governing body led by Executive Headteacher Louise Nichols and provides primary education for children aged 3–11 (Nursery through Year 6), with reported demand strong enough that all places were filled in the first round of applications in the prior admissions cycle.

The federation's core instructional offering is the LEAP Empowerment Curriculum, framed as a 'Rich, Relevant and Representative' curriculum celebrating the contributions of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern Diaspora communities, supplemented by a suite of licensed third-party edtech platforms (Purple Mash, Mathletics, Accelerated Reader, Times Table Rockstars, Language Angels, Charanga Musical School, Read Write Inc, Jigsaw PSHE). Distinctive in-house assets include the Hackney School of Food (a cookery school with productive gardens on the Mandeville site, established with LEAP's support), the Justin Thompson Project (a parent engagement and storytelling initiative), and Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) providing school-to-school support and Initial Teacher Training in partnership with London Metropolitan University. LEAP schools have achieved the Historical Association's Gold Standard Quality Mark and report a 100% pass rate on their ITT programme.

LEAP is not a commercial enterprise: it has no pricing model, no tuition fees, no external funding rounds, and no disclosed revenue. Its financial position is reported through the DfE Financial Benchmarking service, with two employees earning over £100,000 annually. Beyond core education delivery, LEAP operates a small but credible consulting and training business (SLE deployment, Hackney School of Food outreach to other schools, ITT programme) that could expand, but the federation's primary function is the delivery of state primary education to a defined Hackney catchment, supported by a community and family engagement layer rather than commercial revenue generation.

Name

LEAP Federation

Legal name

The LEAP Federation

Website

https://leapfederation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

LEAP Federation is a public sector federation of four London Borough of Hackney primary schools (Kingsmead, Mandeville, Gayhurst, Grasmere) delivering state-funded primary education to children aged 3–11 through a unified Empowerment Curriculum and community engagement programmes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Primary Education Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Virtual & Blended Learning Programs (District-Run) (EDAJAAAI)

Keywords

• Primary education
• Primary school federation
• Teacher training
• School-to-school support
• Food education

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

LEAP Federation is a public-sector federation of four maintained primary schools (Kingsmead, Mandeville, Gayhurst, and Grasmere) in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering primary education to children aged 3–11 under a unified LEAP Empowerment Curriculum. Beyond classroom education, the federation provides Initial Teacher Training programmes, school-to-school support through Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs), and operates the Hackney School of Food cookery school on the Mandeville site, alongside the Justin Thompson Project (JTP) for parent and community engagement.

Product overview

LEAP Federation is a federation of four Hackney primary schools (Kingsmead, Mandeville, Gayhurst, and Grasmere) offering a unified educational approach centered on the LEAP Empowerment Curriculum. The federation provides educational services including the Hackney School of Food for food education, the Justin Thompson Project for community engagement, Initial Teacher Training programmes, and Specialist Leaders of Education consulting services for school-to-school support. The core offering is the 'Rich, Relevant and Representative' curriculum framework supported by specialized programs in English, Maths, Science, Humanities, Arts, PE, Computing, and Modern Foreign Languages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• JTP: The Justin Thompson Project: A parent engagement and storytelling initiative named in honour of Justin Thompson, focused on strengthening relationships between parents and schools, celebrating diversity, and building community belonging across Hackney.

Products and services

• LEAP Primary Education (Four Schools)
• LEAP Empowerment Curriculum
• Hackney School of Food
• Justin Thompson Project (JTP)
• Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Programme
• Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) School-to-School Support

Quantifiable outcome

• All LEAP schools have achieved Gold Standard for Historical Association's Quality Mark
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hackney School of FoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe not-for-profit food education hub that the LEAP Federation helped to establish, located on the site of Mandeville Primary School. Provides cooking and nutrition curriculum, staff team building sessions, and school chef training.
• Chefs in SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity transforming school food and food education. Collaborates with Hackney School of Food for chef training and menu design support.
• Hackney Teaching & Schools' AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupportive partnership of primary, secondary and specialist schools with proven track record of successful improvement. Offers professional development opportunities from initial teacher training to senior leadership.
• Art HoppersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLondon (Hackney) based art education organisation that creates projects for school environment, including light installation at Mandeville and #TAG art gallery at Gayhurst.
• Hackney MusicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic education partnership supporting music curriculum delivery and Hackney Music Festival participation.
• The Kids NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity charity connecting children with volunteer mentors through fun, friendship and hardship for positive social change.
• London Metropolitan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university delivering Graduate Teacher Apprenticeships programme and PGCE routes. Provides high-quality practical support and training for trainee teachers.
• East London Teaching School HubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner in teacher training programme delivery.
• Purple MashcoreTechnology or IntegrationComputing scheme of work providing online learning tools and content for primary aged children. Used for computing curriculum delivery across the federation.
• MathleticscoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline mathematics learning platform used to complement and reinforce schoolwork and classroom learning.
• Accelerated ReadercoreTechnology or IntegrationReading assessment and management programme using quizzes to track success with books read. Used for independent reading support in Years 3-6.
• Times Table RockstarscoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline platform for practising times tables with gamification elements (rock coins, rock status, avatars).
• Language AngelscoreTechnology or IntegrationSpanish scheme of work providing games and activities for language learning. Children have login details to access at home.
• Charanga Musical SchoolcoreTechnology or IntegrationMusic scheme of work resource used to support music lessons, with range of core resources to motivate individual interests.
• Read Write InccoreTechnology or IntegrationSystematic synthetic phonics programme used from Foundation Stage for early reading instruction.
• Jigsaw PSHEcoreTechnology or IntegrationComprehensive PSHE scheme of work with mindful approach, preparing children for life through spiral, progressive curriculum.
• British CyclingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to foster lifelong love of cycling. Key Stage 2 children receive cycling proficiency checks with aim for all to ride by end of KS2.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• United Learning: United Learning is a large multi-academy trust running primary, secondary and all-through schools across England. It is comparable to LEAP as a multi-school trust with shared curriculum, professional development, and central support functions.
• Ark Schools: Ark Schools is a UK multi-academy trust running a network of primary and secondary schools, with a focus on underserved urban communities. It is comparable to LEAP in operating multiple primary schools under a unified structure with a values-driven curriculum approach.
• Harris Federation: Harris Federation is one of the largest London-based multi-academy trusts, operating primary and secondary academies across the capital. It is comparable to LEAP because of the London focus, multi-school governance, and similar urban demographic footprint, though Harris operates as an academy rather than a maintained federation.
• Oasis Academy Trust: Oasis Academy Trust operates a national network of academies including primary schools with a strong community hub ethos. It is comparable to LEAP in combining multi-school governance with community engagement programming.
• Academies Enterprise Trust: Academies Enterprise Trust is a national multi-academy trust operating a large portfolio of primary and secondary schools. It is comparable to LEAP in running multiple schools under a single governance umbrella with shared curriculum and operations.
• Mossbourne Federation: Mossbourne Federation is a Hackney-based federation of primary and secondary schools under a single governing body. It is the most directly comparable peer because it operates a federated multi-school structure within the same London Borough of Hackney, serving similar demographics.
• E-ACT: E-ACT is a large multi-academy trust operating numerous primary and secondary schools across England. It is comparable to LEAP as a multi-school operator with shared back-office, curriculum, and governance structures, though at much greater scale.
• Bright Tribe Trust: Bright Tribe Trust operates a group of primary and secondary academies with a focus on underserved communities. It is comparable to LEAP in operating multi-school governance structures serving diverse urban populations.

Emerging players

• Reach Academy Feltham: Reach Academy Feltham is a smaller all-through school with a strong community engagement and teacher-training ethos. It is comparable to LEAP in its focus on character education, community engagement, and serving disadvantaged cohorts, though it operates at a much smaller scale than the federation.
• School 21: School 21 is a London-based all-through school with a distinctive pedagogy and growing outreach. It is comparable to LEAP in its values-driven, project-led curriculum model and emphasis on oracy, but operates as a single school rather than a federation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/leapfederation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leap-federation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LEAP Federation