Archway School

Archway School is a large secondary school with a sixth form, inspected in April 2026. The overall judgement is expected standard, but the inspection found a mixed picture: safeguarding is met and personal development and wellbeing are secure, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and post-16 provision all require attention. Leaders have introduced appropriate strategies to improve the school, and there are clear strengths in careers education, pupil personal development, extracurricular opportunities, and the calmer behaviour culture. Governors know the school well and staff generally feel supported. However, these improvements are recent and their impact is not yet consistent. Pupils' achievement is below average in most national measures, attendance is significantly below national, suspensions remain high, and teaching is not consistently well matched to pupils' needs, especially for those with SEND or other barriers. The school is in a period of significant governance and leadership change since its last inspection. Leaders have accurately identified the right priorities and are working purposefully with staff, but many new systems are not yet embedded. As a result, pupils do not yet achieve as well as they could, and some gaps in learning and participation remain.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Leaders have created an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
• The personal development programme is coherent and teaches respect, healthy relationships and safety.
• The careers programme is effective and prioritises SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils develop understanding of fundamental British values, rights and responsibilities.
• A broad range of extracurricular activities is available, with adaptations for disadvantaged and SEND pupils.
• Most pupils move on successfully to education, employment or training.
• Leaders have created a calmer, caring and more orderly environment.
• Pupils usually behave well and respond when staff consistently apply expectations.
• Bullying, discrimination and harassment are not tolerated, and pupils trust staff to act.
• The curriculum is broad and well sequenced, with appropriate staffing and subject knowledge.
• Governors know the school well and fulfil their statutory duties.
• Leaders work purposefully with staff and consider workload and wellbeing.
• Staff access useful professional development, including nationally accredited training.
• Post-16 enrichment and careers programmes prepare students for life after school.
• Pupils have positive relationships and benefit from experiences such as the school musical, skiing and Duke of Edinburgh.
• Pupils known to social care typically receive the support they need, and alternative provision is used appropriately.
• Some strategies to support pupils with barriers are starting to have a positive impact.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupil achievement is below average in most national measures and progress is inconsistent.
• The quality of work produced by pupils varies across all key stages.
• Teaching does not consistently assess pupils' starting points accurately.
• Curriculum content is not taught well in some parts and across all key stages.
• Adaptations for SEND and other barriers are inconsistent and hinder some pupils' learning.
• Pupils with SEND do not always learn as well as they could.
• Early reading, literacy and numeracy support is not precise enough to close gaps quickly.
• Attendance is significantly below national and persistent absence is high.
• Pupil suspensions remain high, and work to reduce them has not yet had impact.
• Some pupils occasionally lose focus, opt out of tasks or disrupt others' learning.
• New attendance strategies are too recent to show whether they are working.
• Leaders do not consistently make timely adjustments for changing or emerging SEND needs.
• Leaders lack clear insight into barriers preventing some disadvantaged pupils from accessing wider activities.
• Leadership strategies are very recent and their impact is not consistent or always visible.
• Some staff feel changes are happening too slowly.
• Post-16 achievement and progress are inconsistent, with less challenge in some subjects.
• Post-16 teachers do not consistently adapt lessons for students with barriers.
• The post-16 personal, social, health and emotional programme is not effectively implemented.
• Extracurricular participation tracking is not fully developed, limiting improvements.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Archway School attended 88.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 34.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 10.0% of pupils at Archway School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Archway School had 16.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.3% of pupils at Archway School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Archway School received £7,680 and spent £7,637 for each of its 1,054 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £594,000 (£563 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stroud · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Archway School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Archway School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Archway School last inspected by Ofsted?

Archway School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Archway School have?

Archway School has 1,053 pupils on roll.

What age range does Archway School cover?

Archway School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Archway School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.4, and 25% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Archway School?

Archway School is at Paganhill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 4AX.