Beacon Academy

Beacon Academy is a secondary academy within Wellspring Academy Trust. Standards have declined since its previous 2020 inspection, and the June 2025 inspection found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management inadequate, with personal development requiring improvement. Safeguarding is effective. The school is going through leadership change: an interim principal took up post in January 2025 and was not in school during the inspection, with the associate principal covering the role. There are some positive foundations. Teachers generally have secure subject knowledge, pupils with SEND are identified effectively, and history is a notable exception where teaching builds pupils' understanding and articulacy well. Pupils feel safe, most have a trusted adult, and they value enrichment, careers support, pupil leadership and alternative provision for complex behavioural needs. Staff are also positive about recent workload and support changes. However, many pupils do not behave well, poor behaviour is often unchallenged and disrupts lessons, and attendance is too low. Teaching is not consistently adapted to pupils' needs, assessment and feedback are weak, reading support is not sequenced well enough, and pupils' knowledge and vocabulary are limited. Quality assurance is underdeveloped, actions to improve have been too slow, and the PSHE curriculum does not yet give pupils a strong understanding of British values, tolerance and diversity. The trust has begun making changes, but they are in their infancy.

Strengths

• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Secure subject knowledge among teachers
• Effective identification of pupils with SEND
• Strong history teaching that builds pupils' understanding and articulacy
• Pupils feel safe and most have a trusted adult
• Enrichment activities including sport, arts, craft, reading and trips
• Some pupil leadership opportunities
• Structured personal development programme
• Strong careers support
• Effective use of alternative provision for pupils with complex behavioural needs
• Staff positive about recent workload and support changes
• Early signs of impact from attendance work for some pupils
• Reading for pleasure promoted during form time

Areas for Improvement

• Standards have declined since the previous inspection
• Many pupils do not behave well and lessons are frequently disrupted
• Some staff have low expectations and the behaviour policy is inconsistently applied
• Pupils report bullying and prejudicial language that are not always dealt with effectively
• Teaching is not adapted to meet pupils' needs, including those with SEND
• Work is not demanding enough and pupils make limited progress
• Assessment and feedback are not used effectively
• Misconceptions and gaps in knowledge are not identified
• Reading support is not clearly sequenced and too few pupils read across the curriculum
• Pupils have limited subject-specific vocabulary and struggle to recall learning
• Attendance is too low and strategies are not well embedded
• Quality assurance systems are not effective enough
• Improvement actions have been too slow and changes are in their infancy
• PSHE curriculum is underdeveloped and pupils lack understanding of British values, tolerance and diversity
• Pupils lack pride in their achievements
• Some pupils lose interest because work is not matched to their needs
• Personal development requires improvement

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 Beacon Academy attended 87.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.4% 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, 19.8% of pupils at Beacon 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 Beacon Academy had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.4% 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, 18.8% of pupils at Beacon Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 8.8% 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 Beacon Academy received £9,111 and spent £9,291 for each of its 666 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £218,000 (£327 per pupil).

Across all 25 schools of Wellspring Academy Trust, income was £12,764 and spending £12,663 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 Cleethorpes · North East Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

Beacon Academy is part of Wellspring Academy Trust, which runs 25 schools. The nearest others:

• Scartho Infants' School and Nursery Grimsby
• Littlecoates Primary Academy Grimsby
• Laceby Stanford Primary Academy Grimsby
• Coomb Briggs Primary Academy Immingham
• Lacey Gardens Junior Academy Louth
• Eastfield Infants and Nursery Academy Louth
• Horncastle Primary School Horncastle
• Trent View College Scunthorpe
• Oakhill Primary Academy Barnsley
• The Forest Academy Barnsley

What is Beacon Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Beacon Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Beacon Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Beacon Academy have?

Beacon Academy has 639 pupils on roll.

What age range does Beacon Academy cover?

Beacon Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Beacon Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 30.3, and 11% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Beacon Academy?

Beacon Academy is at Chatsworth Place, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, DN35 9NF.