Ormiston Sudbury Academy

Ormiston Sudbury Academy demonstrates an overall effective performance with a strong emphasis on safeguarding and pupil engagement. The school has made notable strides in attendance, ensuring that pupils, including those with special educational needs and those disadvantaged, are attending school regularly. While leaders are confident in their curriculum approach and actively seek to optimize it, not all pupils are achieving expected outcomes at key stage 4, particularly in core subjects. Nevertheless, there are positive indicators, especially for disadvantaged pupils, showing progress in mathematics and improved overall engagement in school activities.

Strengths

• Strong safeguarding culture that makes pupils feel safe.
• Improvements in attendance for all pupil groups.
• Engaged and focused pupils who respect school rules.
• Staff demonstrate strong subject knowledge and teaching strategies.
• Effective support systems for pupils with special educational needs.
• Well-structured personal development and well-being curriculum.
• Positive extracurricular participation and community involvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' outcomes in national tests do not match national averages.
• Inconsistent follow-up on pupils' reading progress affecting achievement.
• Variable effectiveness in curriculum delivery impacting some groups.

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 Ormiston Sudbury Academy attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.5% 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, 6.9% of pupils at Ormiston Sudbury Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Ormiston Sudbury Academy had 16.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.9% 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, 15.9% of pupils at Ormiston Sudbury Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.6% 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 Ormiston Sudbury Academy received £8,170 and spent £7,962 for each of its 679 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £513,000 (£755 per pupil).

Across all 40 schools of Ormiston Academies Trust, income was £8,888 and spending £8,698 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 Sudbury · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Ormiston Sudbury Academy is part of Ormiston Academies Trust, which runs 41 schools. The nearest others:

• Thomas Wolsey Ormiston Academy Ipswich
• Ormiston Endeavour Academy Ipswich
• Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy Ipswich
• Ormiston Rivers Academy Burnham-On-Crouch
• City of Norwich School, An Ormiston Academy Norwich
• Ormiston Victory Academy Norwich
• Ormiston Denes Academy Lowestoft
• Ormiston Kensington Queensmill Academy London
• Broadland High Ormiston Academy Norwich
• Ormiston Venture Academy Gorleston

What is Ormiston Sudbury Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ormiston Sudbury Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in May 2026.

When was Ormiston Sudbury Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Ormiston Sudbury Academy was last inspected in May 2026.

How many pupils does Ormiston Sudbury Academy have?

Ormiston Sudbury Academy has 710 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ormiston Sudbury Academy cover?

Ormiston Sudbury Academy for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Ormiston Sudbury Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.2, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Ormiston Sudbury Academy?

Ormiston Sudbury Academy is at Tudor Road, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 1NW.