Outwood Academy Portland

Outwood Academy Portland was inspected in September 2024 and was judged good across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision, with safeguarding effective. The school is a large 11–18 academy within Outwood Grange Academies Trust and has seen significant changes since the principal took up post in January 2022; this was its first routine inspection since the pandemic and, under the current framework, no overall effectiveness grade was given. Pupils benefit from a calm and orderly ethos, strong pastoral care and high behavioural expectations, and most say they are happy and feel safe. Leaders have improved behaviour and reduced suspensions significantly, the curriculum is broad and well sequenced, reading is a whole-school priority, and pupils with SEND are increasingly supported to access the same curriculum. Sixth-form students are well taught and prepared for their next steps, personal development and careers provision are strong, and staff morale is positive. The main concerns are that learning expectations are not yet consistently high enough for all pupils, including some with SEND, and that too many pupils—particularly disadvantaged pupils and some with SEND—are absent too often and miss important learning. The school also needs to communicate the reasons for and benefits of its raised expectations and recent changes more successfully, as some parents remain less satisfied or do not fully understand them.

Strengths

• Calm, orderly ethos with polite, courteous and purposeful pupils.
• Strong pastoral care and pupils feel safe and well supported.
• High behavioural expectations with significantly reduced suspensions.
• Broad curriculum with clear sequencing of key knowledge.
• Reading is a whole-school priority with targeted support for struggling readers.
• SEND adaptations help pupils access the same curriculum as peers.
• Strong sixth-form provision with knowledgeable staff and good preparation.
• Comprehensive PSHE and strong careers advice and guidance.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities and pupil leadership roles.
• Positive staff morale, useful training and work to manage workload.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.

Areas for Improvement

• Learning expectations are not consistently high enough for all pupils, including some with SEND.
• Too many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and some with SEND, are absent too often.
• Some parents do not fully understand or support the school’s raised expectations and recent changes.

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 Outwood Academy Portland attended 90.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.8% 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, 7.5% of pupils at Outwood Academy Portland were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 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 Outwood Academy Portland had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.7% 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, 9.3% of pupils at Outwood Academy Portland were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.3% 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 Outwood Academy Portland received £7,650 and spent £7,650 for each of its 1,730 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,442,000 (£1,412 per pupil).

Across all 40 schools of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, income was £8,313 and spending £8,200 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 Worksop · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

Outwood Academy Portland is part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Outwood Academy Valley Worksop
• Outwood Academy City Sheffield
• Outwood Academy Hasland Hall Chesterfield
• Outwood Academy Newbold Chesterfield
• Outwood Academy Kirkby Nottingham
• Outwood Academy Danum Doncaster
• Outwood Primary Academy Woodlands Doncaster
• Outwood Academy Adwick Doncaster
• Outwood Primary Academy Darfield Barnsley
• Outwood Primary Academy Littleworth Grange Barnsley

What is Outwood Academy Portland's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Outwood Academy Portland is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Outwood Academy Portland last inspected by Ofsted?

Outwood Academy Portland was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Outwood Academy Portland have?

Outwood Academy Portland has 1,706 pupils on roll.

What age range does Outwood Academy Portland cover?

Outwood Academy Portland for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Outwood Academy Portland's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.6, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Outwood Academy Portland?

Outwood Academy Portland is at Netherton Road, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 2SF.