The school's original buildings were constructed in 1956 by Sheppard Robson & Partners for the London County Council. It opened in 1956 and originally housed the 500 girls of Hurlingham School from Hugon Road in Fulham. The school became a mixed school in 1982 when it merged with a boys’ school called Chelsea School, which has no relations with the nearby Chelsea Academy or Fulham Boys' School. The school was one of nine schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham serving secondary aged children, of which there are three academies, three foundation schools, one voluntary-aided school, one free school, with Hurlingham and Chelsea being the sole community school.
The school has had a turbulent history. It was described as a "failing school" in the pilot Ofsted inspections in 1994, which prompted discussions of closure until it was given a clean bill of health later in the same year. Provision was judged ‘good’ by Ofsted in 1997 and the school was highlighted for its improvement in HMCI's 1999 Annual Report. Because results were consistently below government floor targets, however, the school was designated as a "school facing challenging circumstances" in 2003. In March 2004 the school was placed under special measures. In November 2005, the school emerged from special measures. A proposal to close the school was made in September 2006, which was later withdrawn in April 2007.[6][7]
In January 2008, the school was highlighted as the most improved school in London (for the proportion of students achieving at least 7 A*–C grades at GCSE) and in July 2015 was judged to be ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. The federation with Sulivan Primary School was established in February 2012 to raise standards in both schools through collaborative work and to provide for the first time the prospect of an enhanced and integrated educational, youth and community provision across the Sands End ward. In 2005, Ofsted reported that the school was rapidly improving. In October 2006, the Local Authority proposed to close the school, but the school campaigned against this, and before adjudication, the council withdrew the proposal. In 2009, the school was given appropriations to expand and improve its facilities and to consider adding a sixth form.[8] In October 2013, the school was placed back into special measures by Ofsted.
In 2014, the school was sponsored by United Learning, and was renamed "The Hurlingham Academy" in 2015.
In 2017, the school became a part of a cluster with The Elms Academy (then named Lambeth Academy) near Clapham Common, allowing both schools to share standards and facilities, and some staff. Holland Park School would later become a part of this cluster, after joining United Learning in 2023. An increasing number of students from the school go on to attend Sixth Form at Elms, as well.
In 2024, following an Ofsted inspection, the school was officially rated an "Outstanding" school,[9] up from its report in 2017, where it was deemed "Good".
^Annabel Rivkin (27 April 2009). "Carry on Carole". ES magazine. Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
