Highfield Littleport Academy

Highfield Littleport Academy is a special school where all pupils have an education, health and care plan, and it is part of Active Learning Trust. The headteacher had been in post for five weeks at the time of the July 2026 full inspection. Ofsted found the school requires significant improvement. Safeguarding is met, and there are clear positives: pupils feel safe and valued, attendance is above the national average for special schools, most pupils are calm and settled, and recent leadership changes have restored a calm, safe environment and improved morale. Leaders have set clear priorities after a period of turbulence that unsettled staff, led to recruitment difficulties and weakened pupils' learning and achievement. The main concerns are serious. Achievement and curriculum and teaching require urgent improvement. Curriculum pathways lack clarity, assessment is muddled, and some pupils are in classes that do not meet their needs. Teaching is weak, with staff not routinely explaining steps, modelling work or checking understanding, and pupils who are pre-verbal or nonverbal do not build communication skills securely. Many pupils have gaps in reading, writing and mathematics that are not routinely identified or addressed, limiting their future choices. Other areas need attention. Inclusion is inconsistent: education, health and care plan provision varies, long-term goals are not broken into measurable targets, and oversight is too weak to tell what needs fixing. Disadvantaged pupils, including those with pupil premium funding, do not benefit consistently, and persistent absence remains a problem. Behaviour responses vary in effectiveness, professional learning has not been sharp enough, and trustees do not receive sufficiently detailed achievement information to challenge leaders. The school has also been told not to seek to appoint early career teachers.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
• Attendance is above the national average for special schools, helped by strong relationships with families.
• Most pupils are calm and settled, and bullying is rare.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and a sense of belonging, supported by warm relationships with staff and peers.
• Recent leadership changes have steadied the school, restored a calm environment and improved morale.
• Current leaders evaluate the school accurately and set clear priorities.
• Pastoral support, including counselling and play-based therapies, is suitable and easy for families to access.
• Careers education helps pupils move on to college or local care settings.
• Facilities such as an accessible gym and a mock flat support pupils' wider development.
• Pupils take on responsibility, for example running Jax's Café.
• Leaders work positively with external partners, including mental health services and support for children in care.
• Residential trips and educational visits broaden pupils' horizons.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires significant improvement, with achievement and curriculum and teaching graded urgent improvement.
• Curriculum pathways lack clarity, and assessment is muddled, so some pupils are in classes that do not meet their needs.
• Teaching is weak: staff do not routinely explain steps, model tasks or check pupils' understanding.
• Pupils who are pre-verbal or nonverbal do not build communication skills securely, partly because picture-based communication is inconsistent.
• Many pupils have gaps in reading, writing and mathematics that are not routinely identified or addressed.
• There is too much variation in how well staff deliver education, health and care plan provision.
• Long-term goals are not broken into specific, measurable short-term targets or adjusted quickly.
• Weak oversight means leaders cannot tell whether issues lie in targets, provision or delivery.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not benefit well enough, and leaders do not check the impact of pupil premium funding carefully.
• Persistent absence remains too high among disadvantaged pupils, with unclear expectations and fluctuating attendance.
• Staff responses to unsettled behaviour vary in effectiveness and speed.
• Staff are not well enough prepared to teach pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Professional learning has not been sharp enough, and weaknesses in practice are not spotted early.
• Trustees receive information that lacks enough detail to challenge leaders about pupils' achievement.
• The personal development programme needs extending so pupils encounter broader opportunities and extra-curricular activities.
• Careers education is not linked closely enough to help some pupils access advanced qualifications and wider options.
• Pupils sometimes disengage because tasks are too easy or too hard, and staff are not quick to adapt teaching.

In 2024–25 pupils at Highfield Littleport Academy attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 22.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

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, 2.1% of pupils at Highfield Littleport Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). One pupil was 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 Highfield Littleport Academy had 9.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

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 Highfield Littleport Academy had 162 pupils, 100.0% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: specific learning difficulty; moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

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 special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Highfield Littleport Academy received £25,868 and spent £24,153 for each of its 146 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £174,000 (£1,192 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of The Active Learning Trust Limited, income was £8,366 and spending £8,624 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 Ely · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Highfield Littleport Academy is part of The Active Learning Trust Limited, which runs 21 schools. The nearest others:

• Isle of Ely Primary School Ely
• Highfield Ely Academy Ely
• Neale-Wade Academy March
• Cromwell Community College Chatteris
• Kingsfield Primary School Chatteris
• Earith Primary School Huntingdon
• Chesterton Primary School Cambridge
• Gusford Community Primary School Ipswich
• Chantry Academy Ipswich
• Hillside Primary School Ipswich

What is Highfield Littleport Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Highfield Littleport Academy is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Highfield Littleport Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Highfield Littleport Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Highfield Littleport Academy have?

Highfield Littleport Academy has 162 pupils on roll.

What age range does Highfield Littleport Academy cover?

Highfield Littleport Academy for pupils aged 2 to 19.

What are Highfield Littleport Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 0% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Highfield Littleport Academy?

Highfield Littleport Academy is at Elmside, Ely, CB6 1LJ.