Manor Community Academy

Manor Community Academy is a secondary school within Northern Education Trust, with a resourced provision for autistic pupils and a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils. The school has a highly inclusive culture, and vulnerable pupils—including those with SEND, looked-after pupils and pupils known to social care—are well cared for and achieve well from their starting points. Achievement and inclusion are strong, and leadership and governance are also strong, with clear commitment from school and trust leaders to the most vulnerable pupils. GCSE English and mathematics outcomes improved rapidly after a dip in 2024, with disadvantaged pupils performing well above national averages by 2025. Attendance is improving and lessons are calm and purposeful, although suspensions remain higher than leaders want and absence rates remain above national averages. The curriculum and teaching are expected standard: reading and core subjects are embedded, but depth of learning varies in some subjects where improvements are still underway. Personal development is also expected standard: careers and pastoral support are strong, but the LIFE curriculum’s impact is inconsistent and uptake of some wider opportunities is variable. The next steps focus on embedding recent curriculum and teaching improvements so pupils deepen their knowledge, and on reviewing the personal development programme so all groups benefit consistently. Safeguarding standards are met. Overall, this is a positive report with notable strengths in inclusion and outcomes for vulnerable pupils, and the concerns are refinement points rather than urgent weaknesses.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture ensures vulnerable pupils feel safe and valued.
• Tailored provision helps disadvantaged pupils, SEND pupils and those known to social care achieve well.
• GCSE English and mathematics outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are well above national averages.
• Reading and foundational skills are taught highly effectively, with expert support for weaker readers.
• Pupils with SEND are fully integrated and access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
• Careers education prepares pupils well for ambitious next steps, with rising sustained destinations.
• Pastoral support is highly effective and pupils speak highly of it.
• Leaders, governors and trust colleagues provide strong oversight and commitment to vulnerable pupils.
• Staff are positive about leadership, support and professional development.
• Attendance is improving and behaviour in lessons is calm and purposeful.
• Safeguarding standards are met with an open culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• The personal development programme has inconsistent impact across pupil groups.
• Training for staff to teach the LIFE curriculum does not yet lead to consistent impact.
• Pupils' engagement with some extra-curricular opportunities and initiatives is variable.
• Depth of pupils' learning remains variable in some subjects where curriculum improvements are underway.
• Rates of suspension, although falling, remain higher than leaders want.
• Overall absence and persistent absence remain above national averages, despite improvement.
• Some pupils occasionally do not meet the school's high behaviour expectations.

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 Manor Community Academy attended 89.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.5% 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, 20.2% of pupils at Manor Community Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Manor Community Academy had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.6% 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, 18.2% of pupils at Manor Community Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 3 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 Manor Community Academy received £9,396 and spent £8,441 for each of its 997 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,032,000 (£1,035 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Northern Education Trust, income was £8,462 and spending £8,166 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 Hartlepool · Hartlepool local authority: places and applications

Manor Community Academy is part of Northern Education Trust, which runs 30 schools. The nearest others:

• Dyke House Sports and Technology College Hartlepool
• Norton Primary Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Frederick Nattrass Primary Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• North Shore Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• The Oak Tree Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• The Grangefield Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Thornaby Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Freebrough Academy Saltburn-By-The-Sea
• Badger Hill Academy Saltburn-By-The-Sea
• Hetton Academy Houghton Le Spring

What is Manor Community Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Manor Community Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Manor Community Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Manor Community Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Manor Community Academy have?

Manor Community Academy has 984 pupils on roll.

What age range does Manor Community Academy cover?

Manor Community Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Manor Community Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.3, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Manor Community Academy?

Manor Community Academy is at Owton Manor Lane, Hartlepool, Teesside, TS25 3PS.