Westbourne Academy

Westbourne Academy is a secondary academy within Academy Transformation Trust that was previously judged good but has now been placed in special measures after inspection found serious weaknesses across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. Safeguarding remains effective, and the school has a well-structured curriculum with many skilled teachers and useful recall tasks. However, these strengths are not consistently realised because disruptive behaviour from a significant minority regularly interrupts learning and leaves some pupils and staff feeling anxious. Pupils with SEND are particularly poorly served: the school does not identify or meet their needs clearly enough, separate rooms are not used well, and reading support is not monitored effectively. Attendance is low, derogatory language is normalised, and many staff feel unsupported in managing behaviour. Enrichment is uneven, with some pupils benefiting from activities such as Cadets and football while others miss out. Leaders and trustees recognise the challenges, but improvement actions have not yet had the intended impact, staff morale is low, and parents and pupils are increasingly frustrated. There has been recent leadership change, including a new principal and CEO, and inspectors recommended that the school does not appoint early career teachers.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The curriculum is well structured and designed to build on prior learning.
• Many teachers explain new content clearly and check pupils’ understanding.
• ‘Do now’ tasks are often used well to recall prior learning and target support.
• Pupils are taught a well-considered personal development programme covering life in modern Britain.
• Many pupils are polite, friendly, kind and eager to learn.
• Some pupils benefit from activities such as Cadets and football, building confidence and teamwork.
• Careers education introduces pupils to a range of options from Year 7.

Areas for Improvement

• Behaviour is not managed consistently, and disruption frequently interrupts learning.
• Many staff feel unsupported in managing behaviour.
• Some pupils and staff feel anxious or unsettled because of poor conduct.
• Pupils with SEND do not have their needs identified or met well enough.
• Separate spaces for pupils with SEND are not used effectively for targeted support.
• Early reading support is not coherently designed, targeted or monitored.
• Attendance is low and shows little sustained improvement.
• Derogatory language is normalised and incidents are often not reported.
• The school is not doing enough to challenge discriminatory attitudes.
• A significant minority of pupils do not access a wide or rich set of experiences.
• Improvement actions have not had the intended impact, and staff morale is low.
• Inspectors recommended that the school does not appoint early career teachers.

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 Westbourne Academy attended 87.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 35.6% 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, 25.7% of pupils at Westbourne Academy 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 Westbourne Academy had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.8% 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, 11.3% of pupils at Westbourne Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.1% 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 Westbourne Academy received £8,454 and spent £8,465 for each of its 1,038 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £184,000 (£178 per pupil).

Across all 21 schools of Academy Transformation Trust, income was £9,055 and spending £8,540 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 Ipswich · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Westbourne Academy is part of Academy Transformation Trust, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Ravens Academy Clacton-On-Sea
• Mildenhall College Academy Mildenhall
• Great Heath Academy Bury St Edmunds
• Beck Row Primary Academy Bury St Edmunds
• Iceni Primary Academy Hockwold Cum Wilton
• Iceni Secondary Academy Thetford
• The Nicholas Hamond Academy Swaffham
• Kingsmoor Academy Harlow
• The Hathaway Academy Grays
• The Queen Elizabeth Academy Atherstone

What is Westbourne Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Westbourne Academy is Inadequate, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Westbourne Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Westbourne Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Westbourne Academy have?

Westbourne Academy has 989 pupils on roll.

What age range does Westbourne Academy cover?

Westbourne Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Westbourne Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.2, and 33% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Westbourne Academy?

Westbourne Academy is at Marlow Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 5JN.