Cleethorpes Academy

Cleethorpes Academy is a secondary comprehensive in the Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust that has been through significant leadership change, including a new principal from September 2024. Inspectors found a school moving in the right direction: leaders are making rapid, necessary improvements, expectations have been raised, behaviour is positive, staff morale has improved, and pupils feel safe and well cared for in an inclusive community. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are good, while quality of education requires improvement. The main concern is that teaching has not consistently helped pupils build secure knowledge over time. Many pupils have gaps in prior learning, and lesson quality is uneven: some teachers explain clearly and check understanding well, but others do not adapt teaching to address misconceptions. The school’s reading strategy is still early, and support for older pupils who are not fluent readers is limited, which hampers their access to the curriculum. New leadership and governance have a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses, but several new strategies are still embedding and their impact has not yet been fully evaluated. Safeguarding is effective. The school has strengthened curriculum planning, SEND support, behaviour and attendance, and careers provision, but further work is needed to ensure all pupils receive consistently high-quality education and achieve well.

Strengths

• Leadership is driving rapid, necessary improvement, with raised expectations and clearer direction.
• Pupils' behaviour in lessons and at social times is positive.
• Pupils feel safe, supported and part of an inclusive school community.
• Pastoral support from tutors is effective.
• Personal development is strong, including a comprehensive careers programme and talks from employers and colleges.
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs and activities, with strong attendance.
• Support for pupils with SEND has been rapidly improved, with clear information and ongoing training for staff.
• Governance has a secure understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and challenges leaders effectively.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Curriculum planning has been reviewed and strengthened in many subjects, with more ambitious sequencing.
• Attendance has improved and fewer pupils are regularly absent.
• Clear start-of-day routines support a positive school culture.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching over time has not ensured pupils gain secure curriculum knowledge, leaving gaps that hinder new learning.
• Lesson quality is inconsistent; some teachers do not adapt teaching to pupils' knowledge or address misconceptions effectively.
• Support for older pupils who are not fluent readers is limited, restricting their access to the full curriculum.
• The reading strategy is at an early stage of implementation.
• The impact of new improvement strategies is not yet fully evaluated, limiting further improvement and governance oversight.
• Pupils' experiences in lessons remain inconsistent across the school.
• Improvements are still at a relatively early stage and further work is needed for consistently high-quality education.

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 Cleethorpes Academy attended 89.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.1% 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, 12.8% of pupils at Cleethorpes Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Cleethorpes Academy had 14.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.3% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Cleethorpes 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 Cleethorpes Academy received £8,256 and spent £8,283 for each of its 843 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,907,000 (£2,262 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust, income was £8,133 and spending £8,144 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 Cleethorpes · North East Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Cleethorpes Academy is part of Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Reynolds Primary Academy Cleethorpes
• Waltham Toll Bar Academy Grimsby
• Scartho Gateway Academy Grimsby
• Waltham Gateway Academy Grimsby
• Pilgrim Academy Immingham
• Somercotes Academy Louth
• Louth Academy Louth
• Kidgate Academy Louth
• Theddlethorpe Academy Mablethorpe
• Kirton Academy Gainsborough

What is Cleethorpes Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cleethorpes Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Cleethorpes Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Cleethorpes Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Cleethorpes Academy have?

Cleethorpes Academy has 843 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cleethorpes Academy cover?

Cleethorpes Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Cleethorpes Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.4, and 37% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Cleethorpes Academy?

Cleethorpes Academy is at Grainsby Avenue, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, DN35 9NX.