The St Lawrence Academy

The St Lawrence Academy is a diverse and inclusive school serving a community with over 40 languages and 28 nationalities. Under the leadership of a headteacher who took up post in September 2025, the school has maintained strong standards in inclusion and personal development, with a coherent personal development programme and a wide range of enrichment activities that pupils engage with enthusiastically. Pupils behave well, feel safe, and benefit from effective support for those with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language. However, published outcomes at the end of key stage 4 remain below national averages, and overall attendance, while improving, is still above the national average for absence. The school is part of St Lawrence Academies Trust and was inspected under the renewed inspection framework.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive environment where all pupils feel a sense of belonging
• Rapid and accurate identification of pupils with SEND, with effective bespoke support including a nurture hub
• Strong support for pupils who speak English as an additional language, leading to high levels of success
• Personal development is a central thread, with a coherent and well-adapted programme
• Extensive enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities with extremely high pupil engagement
• Pupils behave extremely well, are polite, and bullying is rare and dealt with effectively
• Suspensions are reducing due to effective support for behaviour improvement
• Careers programme is carefully planned and prepares pupils well for next steps
• Leaders are passionate about raising aspirations and engage well with parents and the community
• Staff are proud to work at the school and feel supported in their workload and wellbeing
• Effective professional development, including personalised learning and strong support for early career teachers
• Attendance is rapidly improving, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes at the end of key stage 4 are below national averages in English and maths GCSE, Attainment 8, and Progress 8
• Overall absence and persistent absence rates are above national averages
• Some teachers do not check learning as regularly or effectively as they could, missing chances to address misconceptions
• The quality of work and progress pupils make is not always fully reflected in national tests
• Destination data shows fewer pupils staying in education or employment after key stage 4 compared to national averages

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 The St Lawrence Academy attended 89.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.5% 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, 16.4% of pupils at The St Lawrence 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 The St Lawrence Academy had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.7% 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, 14.2% of pupils at The St Lawrence Academy 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 2024–25 The St Lawrence Academy received £8,496 and spent £8,198 for each of its 806 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,032,000 (£1,280 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of St Lawrence Academies Trust Ltd, income was £7,771 and spending £7,618 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 Scunthorpe · North Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

The St Lawrence Academy is part of St Lawrence Academies Trust Ltd, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Westwoodside Church of England Academy Doncaster
• Signhills Infant Academy Cleethorpes
• The Humberston Church of England Primary School Grimsby

What is The St Lawrence Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The St Lawrence Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was The St Lawrence Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The St Lawrence Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does The St Lawrence Academy have?

The St Lawrence Academy has 789 pupils on roll.

What age range does The St Lawrence Academy cover?

The St Lawrence Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are The St Lawrence Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.5, and 43% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The St Lawrence Academy?

The St Lawrence Academy is at Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, DN15 7DF.