Walton Academy

Walton Academy is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all aspects of the inspection. The school fosters a welcoming and supportive environment where pupils thrive and demonstrate positive behavior. Staff dedication and effective leadership have been pivotal in ensuring that pupils are well-prepared for their future educational and career opportunities. The curriculum is ambitious, especially for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and it meets the requirements of the national curriculum. Despite its strengths, there are areas for development to enhance students' understanding of British values and the curriculum's sequencing in personal development.

Strengths

• Pupils understand and exhibit core values of 'ready, respectful and responsible'.
• Strong focus on preparing pupils for future education and careers.
• Teachers mostly deliver content effectively with strong subject knowledge.
• Robust safeguarding measures are in place.
• Students enjoy their sixth-form experience with strong teacher relationships.

Areas for Improvement

• Personal development programme not fully planned or sequenced.
• Some assessments do not identify misconceptions effectively.
• Curriculum content sometimes mismatched to pupils' abilities.

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 Walton Academy attended 89.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.2% 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, 10.6% of pupils at Walton Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Walton Academy had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.9% 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, 15.1% of pupils at Walton Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.6% 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 Walton Academy received £9,309 and spent £9,115 for each of its 904 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £175,000 (£193 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Diverse Academies Trust, income was £8,591 and spending £8,593 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 Grantham · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Walton Academy is part of Diverse Academies Trust, which runs 16 schools. The nearest others:

• East Leake Academy Loughborough
• Tuxford Academy Newark
• Tuxford Primary Academy Newark
• The Holgate Academy Nottingham
• Samuel Barlow Primary Academy Mansfield
• Thoresby Vale Primary Academy Mansfield
• Horizons Academy Mansfield
• Queen Elizabeth's Academy Mansfield
• Yeoman Park Academy Mansfield
• Wainwright Primary Academy Mansfield

What is Walton Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Walton Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Walton Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Walton Academy was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Walton Academy have?

Walton Academy has 822 pupils on roll.

What age range does Walton Academy cover?

Walton Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Walton Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.8, and 26% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Walton Academy?

Walton Academy is at Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7JR.