Sir William Stanier School

Sir William Stanier School has been through significant leadership change at school and trust level since its last inspection. Leaders, trustees and governors share a clear vision, have stabilised staffing, improved routines and inclusive practice, and put in place professional learning and quality assurance. The school is no longer judged to require significant improvement. Leadership and governance and personal development and wellbeing are at expected standard, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils benefit from a wide personal development offer, strong careers support and a caring culture, and staff feel well supported. However, the legacy of historical weaknesses in curriculum design and teaching means that published outcomes remain much lower than national averages, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and attendance and behaviour all need attention. Some subjects lack an ambitious, well-defined curriculum; teachers do not consistently use strategies to address gaps or remove barriers to learning, so some pupils, including those with SEND, do not secure knowledge or access learning as well as they should. Pupils' attendance and persistent absence are significantly worse than national averages, and while new systems are beginning to help, the impact is not yet secure. Leaders are taking sensible and timely action, and early improvements are visible: reading support is helping pupils' fluency and comprehension, pupils feel safer and more cared for, and more pupils are moving on to appropriate education, employment or training. The school has a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with EHC plans relative to national averages, and it is part of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust. The next steps rightly focus on making the curriculum consistently strong, closing gaps in pupils' knowledge, embedding behaviour routines consistently, and reducing absence.

Strengths

• Trustees, governors and leaders share a clear vision and provide appropriate challenge and resources.
• Leaders have acted promptly to stabilise staffing, establish routines and secure the curriculum in most subjects.
• Staff feel well supported, and the vast majority are proud to work at the school.
• A comprehensive personal development programme prepares pupils for life and links learning to local issues.
• Pupils can access a wide range of activities and opportunities during the school day, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• A strong pastoral culture gives pupils a named 'champion' and helps them feel heard and cared for.
• The careers programme raises aspirations and has increased the number of pupils securing appropriate destinations.
• Reading support is improving pupils' comprehension and fluency, with additional support recently introduced for numeracy and handwriting.
• Leaders have created clearer systems to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence, with early signs of impact.
• Most lessons are calm, pupils feel safe, and they trust staff to deal with bullying and incidents quickly.
• Leaders make effective use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils, including appropriate alternative provision.
• Pupils engage with community projects and develop understanding of social issues and life in modern Britain.

Areas for Improvement

• Published examination outcomes are much lower than national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• Historical weaknesses in curriculum design and teaching have left pupils with gaps in knowledge.
• Some subjects do not yet have an ambitious or well-defined curriculum.
• Teachers do not consistently address missed or forgotten learning, so pupils do not secure knowledge over time.
• Teaching strategies to remove barriers are not consistently used, so some pupils, including those with SEND, struggle to access learning.
• Pupils' attendance is significantly below the national average.
• Persistent absence is well above the national average.
• Some staff do not apply behaviour rules and routines consistently.
• Some pupils do not engage well with their learning.
• It is too soon to see the impact of recent reading, numeracy and handwriting support.
• Some pupils struggle to remember learning from longer ago.
• Destinations after 16 remain below national averages, despite recent 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 Sir William Stanier School attended 86.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 42.4% 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, 32.7% of pupils at Sir William Stanier School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 13 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 Sir William Stanier School had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 28.4% 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, 30.3% of pupils at Sir William Stanier School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 9.0% 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 Sir William Stanier School received £9,419 and spent £9,734 for each of its 693 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £1,160,000 (-£1,674 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, income was £7,536 and spending £7,682 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 Crewe · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Sir William Stanier School is part of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Cheshire Studio School Crewe
• Crewe Engineering and Design UTC Crewe
• The Oaks Academy Crewe
• Leighton Academy Crewe
• Wistaston Church Lane Academy Crewe
• Shavington Primary School Crewe
• Wheelock Primary School Sandbach
• Dove Bank Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• Congleton High School Congleton
• Castle Primary School Stoke-On-Trent

What is Sir William Stanier School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sir William Stanier School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Sir William Stanier School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sir William Stanier School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Sir William Stanier School have?

Sir William Stanier School has 633 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sir William Stanier School cover?

Sir William Stanier School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Sir William Stanier School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 27.4, and 10% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sir William Stanier School?

Sir William Stanier School is at Coronation Street, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 4EB.