A free school which opened two years ago to plug a shortage of school places has been rated “good” in its first Ofsted inspection.

The Archer Academy in Beaumont Close, East Finchley was praised for the school’s “clear, simple vision” and “outstanding” behaviour of its pupils by Ofsted inspectors in a report published today.

It received the rating just two months before the over-subscribed school is due to move into its £14million campus on the former site of Stanley Road Playing Fields in September.

Lead inspector Debbie Clinton wrote: “Senior leaders and governors base their work on a clear, simple vision which commits the academy to achieving the very best it can for its students. It is a vision shared by all who work and study in the academy.”

She added: “The behaviour of students is outstanding. There is a clear sense of ‘the Archer way’ and students adopt those values in all they do.”

The school’s curriculum was also highlighted as a “particular strength”.

It received a “good” rating in all categories, except behaviour and safety of pupils, for which it was classed as “outstanding”.

But the inspection team said the school was not yet rated outstanding because disadvantaged pupils lag behind their classmates in English and mathematics, and that pupils make slower progress than they should.

The Archer Academy opened to an inaugural Year 7 cohort of 150 pupils in September 2013 in the old Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute (HGSI) building in Beaumont Close, off The Bishops Avenue.

From September, there will be roughly 450 pupils in total across Years 7, 8 and 9.

The three year groups will be based at the new campus for lessons before moving back to Beaumont Close for Years 10 and 11.

Pupils from all year groups will play sport and have PE lessons at the Stanley Road campus.

The school has plans to set up a sixth-form in the future.