Sandwich Technology School

Sandwich Technology School requires special measures following its May 2026 inspection. Safeguarding standards are met, and inspectors found expected-standard work in inclusion and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils are generally happy, feel safe, behave well, and benefit from improved pastoral care, careers guidance, personal development, and a wide range of enrichment opportunities. However, the school is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, with urgent improvement needed in achievement, attendance, and leadership and governance. Curriculum and teaching and post-16 provision need attention. The most serious concerns are pupils' weak examination outcomes, especially for disadvantaged pupils, and very high levels of persistent absence. Pupils' gaps in knowledge often widen over time, reading and writing support is not systematic, and teaching is variable, including for pupils with SEND. Sixth-form achievement is also variable, with some students lacking depth of understanding and inconsistent support to improve their work. Leaders have not acted quickly enough on key priorities, and governors do not hold leaders to account rigorously or fulfil their statutory responsibilities. This is a single-academy trust school. The current headteacher and chair of the governing body were not in post at the last graded inspection, and a proposal for the school to join a multi-academy trust was announced before the inspection. There are clear strengths in pupils' personal development, inclusion, wellbeing, behaviour, and community ethos, and parents appreciate the pastoral care and communication. Nevertheless, urgent action is required to improve attendance, achievement, teaching consistency, and governance capacity.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified and managed.
• Leaders identify barriers to learning and put effective SEND support in place.
• Personal development is well planned, including relationships, health, online safety and British values.
• Pupils receive timely careers guidance and are well prepared for their next steps.
• Pupils can access a broad range of clubs, performances and enrichment opportunities.
• The new house system has improved pupils' sense of belonging and togetherness.
• Pupils' wellbeing is prioritised, with accessible mental health support and strong pastoral care.
• Behaviour is typically positive and lessons are mostly calm and orderly.
• Bullying, discrimination and aggression are rare and are dealt with swiftly.
• Sixth-form students often benefit from smaller classes and make positive progress from their starting points.
• Staff wellbeing and workload are considered, and early career teachers feel supported.
• Parents appreciate the school's pastoral care and how well informed they are about their children's education.
• Leaders have built a caring ethos and stronger community cohesion.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
• Pupils do not achieve well in national examinations, particularly at the end of Year 11.
• Disadvantaged pupils often do not gain the qualifications needed to prepare them for their next steps.
• Pupils have gaps in knowledge that widen over time, including those with SEND.
• Reading and writing support is not systematic, so too few pupils catch up.
• Teaching quality is variable and staff do not consistently identify or address gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• Teaching is not always adapted effectively for pupils with SEND.
• Curriculum sequencing does not consistently build knowledge over time in some subjects.
• Expectations for written work, especially disadvantaged pupils' work, are sometimes too low.
• Persistent absence is far above average, and leaders were too slow to tackle poor attendance.
• Sixth-form achievement is variable, with gaps in knowledge and inconsistent teaching.
• Leaders have not taken timely action on key priorities, including attendance and achievement.
• Governors do not hold leaders to account rigorously or fulfil their statutory responsibilities.
• Leaders lack sufficiently clear oversight of the impact of their improvement work.
• Staff expertise is not yet sufficient to meet some pupils' needs precisely.
• Some pupils occasionally disturb the learning of others.

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 Sandwich Technology School attended 86.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 43.2% 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, 12.6% of pupils at Sandwich Technology School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Sandwich Technology School had 13.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.7% 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, 25.8% of pupils at Sandwich Technology School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.1% 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 Sandwich Technology School received £8,457 and spent £8,133 for each of its 1,235 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £4,338,000 (£3,513 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.

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All schools in Sandwich · Kent local authority: places and applications

What is Sandwich Technology School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sandwich Technology School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Sandwich Technology School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sandwich Technology School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Sandwich Technology School have?

Sandwich Technology School has 1,104 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sandwich Technology School cover?

Sandwich Technology School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Sandwich Technology School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 30.0, and 12% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sandwich Technology School?

Sandwich Technology School is at Deal Road, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 0FA.