Oak Academy

Oak Academy is a secondary academy within the Authentic Education Group. Recent changes in trust leadership have brought greater support and increased the pace of improvement, but many changes are recent and have had limited impact so far. Behaviour and personal development are relative strengths: the school is calm, pupils understand behaviour expectations, and they benefit from a wide range of extracurricular activities, pupil leadership roles, careers education and personal development lessons. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The quality of education and leadership and management are the weaker areas. The curriculum has been reviewed and is broad and more ambitious, and reading and attendance support are positive features. However, older pupils have gaps from the previous curriculum, classroom assessment does not accurately identify what pupils know, and work is not consistently matched to pupils' starting points. Support for pupils with SEND is not adapted precisely enough, and monitoring and review systems are not yet sufficiently developed for leaders and governance to have a clear view of what is working well. Published outcomes have been low, and the school is at an early stage of addressing this. The main priorities are to make SEND support consistently effective, improve routine checks for understanding, and strengthen systems for monitoring and challenging the quality of education across the school and trust.

Strengths

• Pupils' behaviour has improved and the school is calm, with adults applying the behaviour policy fairly.
• Pupils value rewards such as 'oak points' and take part in a wide range of extracurricular activities and sports.
• Pupils have opportunities for leadership roles, including new year group prefects.
• Pupils read regularly, and the weakest readers are quickly identified and supported to improve accuracy and confidence.
• Pupils with English as an additional language receive support with subject vocabulary.
• Attendance monitoring has been strengthened, and overall and persistent absence are falling.
• The school identifies the individual needs of pupils with SEND.
• Personal development is well provided through 'Learning for Life', enrichment, British values and local safety education.
• Careers education includes employer encounters, work experience and impartial post-16 advice.
• Staff workload and well-being are considered, and staff value professional development opportunities.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The curriculum has been reviewed and is broad and more ambitious, with subject content set out for each year.

Areas for Improvement

• The curriculum is not adapted precisely enough to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, so these pupils do not learn as well as they might.
• Classroom assessment does not accurately identify pupils' starting points or gaps in knowledge and understanding.
• Work is not closely matched to pupils' starting points, with some repeating work and others receiving difficult work without needed support.
• Older pupils who studied the previous curriculum have gaps in knowledge and understanding that hinder new learning.
• Systems for monitoring and reviewing the quality of education are in their infancy.
• Leaders and those responsible for governance do not have a clear view of what is working well and what is not.
• Published outcomes for pupils have been low.
• Many recent changes have had limited impact so far.

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 Oak Academy attended 88.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.1% 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, 14.7% of pupils at Oak Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Oak Academy had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.3% 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, 21.5% of pupils at Oak Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.3% 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 Oak Academy received £8,369 and spent £9,101 for each of its 648 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £624,000 (£963 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Authentic Education Group Limited, income was £9,345 and spending £9,661 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 Bournemouth · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

Oak Academy is part of Authentic Education Group Limited, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• LeAF Studio Bournemouth
• Elm Academy Bournemouth
• Kinson Academy Bournemouth
• Manorside Academy Poole
• St Aldhelm's Academy Poole
• Queen's Park Academy Bournemouth
• Longspee Academy Poole
• King's Park Academy Bournemouth
• Tregonwell Academy Bournemouth
• Bayside Academy Poole

What is Oak Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Oak Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Oak Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Oak Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Oak Academy have?

Oak Academy has 647 pupils on roll.

What age range does Oak Academy cover?

Oak Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Oak Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 34.0, and 26% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Oak Academy?

Oak Academy is at Duck Lane, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH11 9JJ.