Stamford Welland Academy

Stamford Welland Academy is a highly inclusive school serving a complex community, with above-average proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, as well as a number of service children. Inspectors found strong standards in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing, and safeguarding requirements are met. Staff know pupils and families extremely well, behaviour is exemplary, and pupils feel safe, supported and proud to attend. Notable strengths include exceptional pastoral care, a well-planned PSHE curriculum, extensive enrichment and pupil leadership opportunities, and effective use of pupil premium funding. Disadvantaged pupils, service children and pupils with SEND generally achieve well and attend regularly. Leadership is ambitious, governance is effective, and trust support has contributed to swift improvements. Staff feel well supported and value the school’s caring culture. However, achievement and leadership and governance are judged at expected standard, while curriculum and teaching need attention. There is inconsistency in curriculum quality and teaching across some subjects, the whole-school literacy policy is not implemented regularly enough, and assessment checks are not precise enough. As a result, errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation are not always addressed quickly, and gaps in writing remain for some pupils. Leaders are tackling this at pace, but further work is required to embed consistently effective curriculums, teaching and assessment across the school.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school with strong support for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Excellent attendance and behaviour, with exemplary conduct in lessons and around school
• Exceptional pastoral care and a house system that ensures no pupil is left behind
• Well-planned PSHE curriculum and extensive personal development and enrichment offer
• Strong pupil leadership opportunities, including cadets, Duke of Edinburgh and peer activities
• Effective careers advice and good progression to appropriate destinations after key stage 4
• Skilled learning-support staff who help break down barriers to learning
• Wise use of pupil premium funding and strong progress for disadvantaged pupils and service children
• Ambitious leadership and effective trust support driving swift improvement
• Positive staff culture with visible leadership and a focus on staff wellbeing
• Pupils feel safe, do not fear bullying, and trust staff to resolve concerns quickly
• Open and positive safeguarding culture with all legal requirements met

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum quality is inconsistent across some subjects
• Teaching quality varies and assessment checks are not precise enough
• The whole-school literacy policy is not implemented with the regularity required
• Spelling, grammar, punctuation and letter formation errors are not addressed quickly enough
• Gaps in learning remain for some pupils, particularly in writing
• Pupils do not consistently develop important writing skills across the curriculum
• Achievement is not yet consistently strong across all groups and subjects
• Leaders need to embed highly effective subject curriculums, teaching and assessment school-wide

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 Stamford Welland Academy attended 91.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.9% 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, 5.2% of pupils at Stamford Welland 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 Stamford Welland Academy had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.7% 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, 17.3% of pupils at Stamford Welland Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 9.4% 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 Stamford Welland Academy received £9,039 and spent £8,787 for each of its 597 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £872,000 (£1,460 per pupil).

Across all 36 schools of Meridian Trust, income was £7,921 and spending £7,857 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 Stamford · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Stamford Welland Academy is part of Meridian Trust, which runs 36 schools. The nearest others:

• The Bluecoat School Stamford
• Orton Wistow Primary School Peterborough
• West Town Primary Academy Peterborough
• Nene Park Academy Peterborough
• Nene Valley Primary School Peterborough
• Greater Peterborough UTC Peterborough
• Woodston Primary School Peterborough
• NeneGate Peterborough
• Weldon Village Academy Corby
• Sawtry Village Academy Huntingdon

What is Stamford Welland Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stamford Welland Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Stamford Welland Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Stamford Welland Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Stamford Welland Academy have?

Stamford Welland Academy has 648 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stamford Welland Academy cover?

Stamford Welland Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Stamford Welland Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.2, and 28% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Stamford Welland Academy?

Stamford Welland Academy is at Green Lane, Stamford Welland Academy, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1HE.