Outwood Academy Acklam

Outwood Academy Acklam is a secondary comprehensive academy within the Outwood Grange Academies Trust. Inspectors found good provision across the key judgements: the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are all good. Staff have high expectations and the school is ambitious for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Pastoral care is high quality, behaviour and attendance have improved, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, and pupils learn the intended knowledge and skills in most subjects. Staff use assessment well to identify gaps and provide support, and pupils with SEND are identified effectively and supported to access the same curriculum as their peers. Reading and EAL support help pupils catch up quickly, while personal development, careers education and enrichment opportunities are strengths. Leadership, governance and staff development are also effective. However, a minority of pupils do not meet the school’s high expectations for attendance and conduct. Strategies to improve attendance are not yet effective for these pupils, and a small group is suspended regularly, meaning some pupils miss important education. Some pupils still use language that can upset others, and a proportion of pupils do not achieve as well as their peers nationally in external tests and assessments, despite improvements over time.

Strengths

• High expectations for pupils' achievement and conduct
• High-quality pastoral care for vulnerable pupils
• Broad and ambitious curriculum, including for pupils with SEND
• Effective use of assessment to identify gaps and provide support
• Strong SEND identification and adaptation in most subjects
• Effective reading and EAL support so pupils can access the curriculum
• Well-used library and enthusiastic reading culture
• Personal, social and health education adapted to local risks
• Careers education integrated into the curriculum
• Strong enrichment and Outwood Honours programme
• Effective leadership, governance and professional development
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance strategies are not effective for a minority of pupils
• Persistent absence negatively affects some pupils' education
• A small group of pupils is suspended regularly and misses important learning
• Some pupils use language that can upset others
• A proportion of pupils do not achieve as well as peers nationally in external tests and assessments
• The impact of support is not fully realised in published outcomes

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 Acklam attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.4% 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, 14.3% of pupils at Outwood Academy Acklam were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 10 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 Acklam had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.6% 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, 20.4% of pupils at Outwood Academy Acklam were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 16 pupils.

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 Acklam received £8,863 and spent £8,085 for each of its 1,190 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,680,000 (£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 Middlesbrough · Middlesbrough local authority: places and applications

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

• Outwood Academy Riverside Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Ormesby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Normanby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth Stockton-On-Tees
• Outwood Academy Redcar Redcar
• Outwood Academy Bydales Redcar
• Outwood Academy Easingwold York
• Outwood Academy Ripon Ripon
• Outwood Primary Academy Greystone Ripon
• Outwood Primary Academy Alne York

What is Outwood Academy Acklam's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Outwood Academy Acklam is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Outwood Academy Acklam last inspected by Ofsted?

Outwood Academy Acklam was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Outwood Academy Acklam have?

Outwood Academy Acklam has 1,201 pupils on roll.

What age range does Outwood Academy Acklam cover?

Outwood Academy Acklam for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Outwood Academy Acklam's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.7, and 41% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Outwood Academy Acklam?

Outwood Academy Acklam is at Hall Drive, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 7JY.