St Peter's School

St Peter's School is a large secondary school within the Cam Academy Trust. Following a full section 5 inspection, it was judged to be working at the expected standard across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, and post-16 provision. Safeguarding standards are met. The report describes a school that has made significant improvements in behaviour and attendance, with a calm, inclusive culture, strong pastoral care and clear leadership.

Strengths

• Inclusive ethos ensures pupils of all backgrounds and needs can access learning and wider school life.
• Safeguarding culture is open, positive and meets all required standards.
• Behaviour has improved significantly, with fewer disruptions, repeat incidents and suspensions.
• Attendance is steadily improving, with leaders using data well to target support and reduce persistent absence.
• Personal development and pastoral care are strong, with pupils feeling safe, supported and respected.
• SEND provision is well structured and inclusive, including specialist support such as 'the Cabin'.
• Pupil premium funding is used strategically to address literacy and engagement barriers.
• Leadership and governance have a deep understanding of the school's context and drive improvement effectively.
• Staff wellbeing is a priority, with high morale and a supportive, collaborative culture.
• Post-16 leadership is responsive and has acted to address a dip in A-level outcomes.
• Careers education is comprehensive and prepares pupils and students well for next steps.
• Curriculum is well sequenced in core subjects, with secure subject knowledge and effective teaching in strongest areas.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance and persistent absence remain above national averages, requiring continued improvement.
• Teaching and curriculum delivery are not consistently strong across all subjects and classes.
• In some lessons, teachers do not routinely check pupils' understanding to address gaps or misconceptions promptly.
• Provision in the nurture group is not always sufficiently tailored to pupils' needs.
• Classroom consistency for pupils with SEND is variable.
• GCSE outcomes in English and maths and Attainment 8 are below national averages in recent final data.
• A-level outcomes and value added are below national averages in 2024/25.
• Post-16 achievement is improving but still needs to secure stronger outcomes.

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 St Peter's School attended 89.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.7% 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, 7.8% of pupils at St Peter's 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 St Peter's School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.4% 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, 11.5% of pupils at St Peter's School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.9% 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 St Peter's School received £8,705 and spent £8,985 for each of its 1,526 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,008,000 (£661 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of The Cam Academy Trust, income was £8,882 and spending £9,053 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 Huntingdon · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

St Peter's School is part of The Cam Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Thongsley Fields Primary and Nursery School Huntingdon
• Hartford Junior School Huntingdon
• Hartford Infant and Preschool Huntingdon
• Cromwell Academy Huntingdon
• Hinchingbrooke School Huntingdon
• Godmanchester Community Academy Huntingdon
• Godmanchester Bridge Academy Godmanchester
• Offord Primary School St Neots
• Spaldwick Primary School Huntingdon
• Cambourne Village College Cambridge

What is St Peter's School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Peter's School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was St Peter's School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Peter's School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does St Peter's School have?

St Peter's School has 1,506 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Peter's School cover?

St Peter's School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Peter's School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.3, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Peter's School?

St Peter's School is at St Peter's Road, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 7DD.