Hope Academy

Hope Academy is a secondary academy and faith school that joined The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust in November 2023. Following its November 2024 inspection, the school was judged to require improvement in the quality of education, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management were all good. Under the current inspection arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade was given. Pupils are proud of the school, feel safe, and benefit from positive relationships with staff and peers. Behaviour has improved, lessons are generally calm, and the school has effective safeguarding arrangements. The school has made positive changes to its curriculum, including a broad and ambitious key stage 3 offer and better depth at key stage 4. Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum alongside their peers, reading is prioritised across subjects, and the school has effective systems for identifying and supporting pupils with reading gaps. Personal development is a notable strength, with a well-planned Inspire programme, collective worship, strong careers education, and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities. Trust support has also strengthened the school’s capacity for improvement. However, the delivery of the curriculum is not consistent across subjects. In some lessons, teachers do not choose the most suitable activities or check pupils’ understanding carefully enough before moving on, which leaves some pupils, including pupils with SEND and those who have fallen behind, with gaps in knowledge. Expectations for what pupils with SEND can achieve vary between teachers, so their achievement is uneven. Published outcomes do not yet reflect the recent curriculum improvements, and improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND remains a priority.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and have strong relationships with staff and peers.
• Pupils are proud of the school and understand its values.
• Behaviour and attitudes are good, with respectful pupils and generally calm lessons.
• The key stage 3 curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils.
• Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum alongside their peers.
• Reading is prioritised across subjects, with effective systems to identify and address gaps.
• The personal development programme, including Inspire and collective worship, is well planned.
• Careers education and extracurricular opportunities are strong.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Trust support has strengthened the school’s capacity for improvement and considered staff workload.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement because curriculum delivery is inconsistent across subjects.
• In some subjects, teachers do not routinely choose the most appropriate activities to help pupils understand key knowledge.
• Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding before introducing new learning, leading to gaps and misconceptions.
• Achievement for pupils with SEND is variable because teachers’ expectations and use of support strategies differ.
• Published outcomes do not yet show the impact of recent curriculum improvements.
• Improving attendance for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND remains a priority.

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 Hope Academy attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.2% 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, 11.5% of pupils at Hope Academy 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 Hope Academy had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.4% 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, 18.3% of pupils at Hope Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.3% 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 Hope Academy received £8,782 and spent £8,762 for each of its 1,289 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,400,000 (£1,086 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust, income was £8,407 and spending £8,419 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 Newton-Le-Willows · St. Helens local authority: places and applications

Hope Academy is part of The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Infant Academy St Helens
• St Mary's Catholic Junior Academy Newton-Le-Willows
• St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy Liverpool
• The Academy of St Nicholas Liverpool
• The Academy of St Francis of Assisi Liverpool
• St Margaret's Church of England Academy Liverpool
• Faith Primary Academy Liverpool
• St Cleopas' Church of England Primary Academy Liverpool
• St Michaels Church of England Academy Crosby
• Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary School Liverpool

What is Hope Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Hope Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Hope Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Hope Academy have?

Hope Academy has 1,235 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hope Academy cover?

Hope Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Hope Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.9, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Hope Academy?

Hope Academy is at Ashton Road, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, WA12 0AQ.