Maharishi Free School

Maharishi Free School is a good all-through academy free school where pupils are extremely well cared for in a nurturing environment. Staff know pupils individually and provide strong pastoral support, pupils are happy, behave well and learning is rarely disrupted. The curriculum has widened since the previous inspection while keeping the English Baccalaureate subjects at its heart, and teachers generally deliver it clearly with strong subject knowledge. Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well from Reception, and most pupils read fluently. The early years curriculum has been refined and children leave Reception with secure vocabulary and routines. Personal development is a strength: pupils learn respect for different religions, understand consent and online safety, and are prepared well for education, employment or training. Trustees know the school well and hold leaders to account, and staff feel valued. There are still important areas to improve. In some subjects teachers do not check prior knowledge well enough, so gaps are missed and some pupils struggle to connect new learning. Reading support is not consistently effective: primary catch-up is not as strong as it could be, and the secondary reading strategy is at an early stage and does not reliably identify pupils who need help. Attendance is also a concern because the school’s strategy is still in its infancy and some pupils remain persistently absent, missing learning and wider experiences.

Strengths

• Extremely nurturing pastoral care with staff knowing each pupil individually
• Pupils are happy, polite and behave well, with little disruption to learning
• Broad curriculum with the English Baccalaureate suite at its heart
• Strong teacher subject knowledge and clear curriculum delivery
• Swift identification of SEND and effective adaptation from Reception
• Refined early years curriculum with secure vocabulary and routines
• Most pupils read fluently and confidently
• Strong personal development, including respect, consent, online safety and healthy eating
• Effective careers programme preparing pupils for next steps
• Trustees understand the school well and hold leaders to account
• Staff feel valued and supported with workload
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ prior knowledge, so gaps are missed
• Primary phonics catch-up support is not as effective as it could be
• Secondary reading strategy is embryonic and does not identify struggling readers
• Some pupils do not receive effective reading support to build fluency
• Attendance strategy is in its infancy and has not sufficiently improved persistent absence
• Some pupils miss learning and wider experiences because they do not attend frequently enough

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 Maharishi Free School attended 89.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 33.6% 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, 3.6% of pupils at Maharishi Free 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 Maharishi Free School had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.5% 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 Maharishi Free School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.6% 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 Maharishi Free School received £7,906 and spent £7,754 for each of its 224 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £257,000 (£1,147 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 Ormskirk · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Maharishi Free School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Maharishi Free School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Maharishi Free School last inspected by Ofsted?

Maharishi Free School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Maharishi Free School have?

Maharishi Free School has 229 pupils on roll.

What age range does Maharishi Free School cover?

Maharishi Free School for pupils aged 4 to 16.

What are Maharishi Free School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 35.5, and 21% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

What are Maharishi Free School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Maharishi Free School?

Maharishi Free School is at Cobbs Brow Lane, Lathom, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L40 6JJ.