John Cabot Academy

John Cabot Academy is a welcoming, inclusive secondary school where pupils and sixth-form students feel a strong sense of belonging and are well prepared for their next steps. Inspectors found a high-quality education, calm and focused lessons, warm relationships, high attendance and good behaviour. The school’s ambitious curriculum, strong support for disadvantaged pupils and accurate identification of SEND help pupils achieve very well in GCSE examinations. The CLF Post-16 provision is outstanding, with a broad and inclusive subject offer and thoughtful academic and pastoral support that helps students thrive. The school’s personal development work is a notable strength: pupils respect diversity, take part in a wide range of councils and extracurricular activities, and learn about healthy relationships and misinformation. Careers guidance and destinations are also strong. Safeguarding is effective. The main areas for improvement are that assessment is not always used precisely enough to identify and address misunderstandings, so misconceptions sometimes persist in Years 7 to 11, and many pupils do not read for pleasure widely or regularly enough. The proportion of pupils studying English Baccalaureate subjects is low, although modern foreign language uptake is increasing. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. John Cabot Academy is part of the Cabot Learning Federation, and the report notes that leaders at school and trust level know the school well. Staff receive high-quality training and well-being support, though some aspects of workload still need further adjustment. Under the current inspection framework, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded.

Strengths

• Welcoming, inclusive community with a strong sense of belonging for pupils and sixth-form students.
• Ambitious curriculum that provides a rich learning experience and strong GCSE outcomes.
• Effective support for disadvantaged pupils, with barriers to learning removed.
• Accurate identification of SEND and generally appropriate adaptations so these pupils achieve well.
• Outstanding sixth-form provision with a broad, inclusive range of subjects and strong academic and pastoral support.
• Pastoral care is a strength and helps secure high attendance.
• High expectations for behaviour are applied consistently and fairly, so pupils behave well.
• Personal development programme builds respect for diversity and teaches healthy relationships and how to spot fake news.
• Wide range of councils, extracurricular opportunities and student leadership roles lead to meaningful change.
• Comprehensive careers programme and strong destinations for pupils and students.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.
• High-quality staff training and support for staff well-being.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not always used precisely enough, so misconceptions sometimes persist in Years 7 to 11.
• Many pupils do not read for pleasure widely or regularly, limiting their reading fluency and comprehension beyond the curriculum.
• The proportion of pupils studying English Baccalaureate subjects in Years 10 and 11 is low.
• Some aspects of staff workload still need further adjustment.

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 John Cabot Academy attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.8% 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, 11.9% of pupils at John Cabot Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 John Cabot Academy had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 17.0% of pupils at John Cabot Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 2024–25 John Cabot Academy received £7,993 and spent £8,085 for each of its 1,280 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £747,000 (£584 per pupil).

Across all 33 schools of Cabot Learning Federation, income was £8,647 and spending £8,763 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bristol · South Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

John Cabot Academy is part of Cabot Learning Federation, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Bristol Brunel Academy Bristol
• Hanham Woods Academy Bristol
• Minerva Primary Academy Bristol
• Summerhill Academy Bristol
• King's Oak Academy Bristol
• Digitech Studio School Bristol
• Wicklea Academy Bristol
• Bristol Metropolitan Academy Bristol
• The City Academy Bristol Bristol
• Begbrook Primary Academy Bristol

What is John Cabot Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John Cabot Academy is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was John Cabot Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

John Cabot Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does John Cabot Academy have?

John Cabot Academy has 1,244 pupils on roll.

What age range does John Cabot Academy cover?

John Cabot Academy for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are John Cabot Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.6, and 45% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is John Cabot Academy?

John Cabot Academy is at Woodside Road, Kingswood, Bristol, BS15 8BD.