Architect Norman Foster designed the building, which was nominated for the 2004 Stirling Prize, and some parts have been compared to "a smart City office".

[8] However the Academy didn't make the progress expected[9] and by 2007 was languishing at the bottom of the School League tables for Bexley.

In 2010 the school had a deficit of £500,000, largely for repairs to the "incredibly expensive to run" seven-year-old building, but also to attract staff.

The school had had a high turnover of headteachers and pupil enrolment had fallen to about 1,100 exacerbating the deficit.

[10] On 25 September 2011 The Business Academy Bexley was featured on Channel 4's programme 'Derren Brown: How to be a Psychic Spy'.