Sprowston Community Academy

Sprowston Community Academy is a large secondary school and part of the Broad Horizons Trust. Inspectors found it meeting expected standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, and post-16 provision, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils feel safe and a strong sense of belonging, behaviour is calm, and pastoral care and inclusion are notable strengths. Leaders are strategic, staff morale is high, and governance provides appropriate support and challenge.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture.
• Pupils feel safe, valued and a strong sense of belonging in an inclusive school community.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with rare bullying and effective responses when it occurs.
• Pastoral care is highly effective and pupils trust staff to support them.
• A broad, inclusive enrichment offer builds confidence, resilience and leadership.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well sequenced and supported by effective assessment.
• Strong reading provision helps pupils who need extra support to become fluent readers.
• Inclusion is well considered, with SEND pupils well known and appropriately supported.
• The pupil premium strategy is research-informed and removes academic and enrichment barriers.
• Leadership is knowledgeable and strategic, with high staff morale and effective professional development.
• Trustees and governors provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Attendance is improving and persistent absence is falling, despite remaining below national averages.
• Pupils are well prepared for next steps through careers education and guidance.
• Post-16 vocational achievement is well above the national average.
• Sixth-form students receive strong pastoral support and benefit from enrichment and leadership opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• Overall attendance remains below the national average and persistent absence is above it.
• A-level achievement and A-level value added are below national averages.
• Leaders must ensure A-level students have the prior knowledge and attitudes to achieve well.
• Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are below national averages, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Overall Progress 8 has been below the national average in recent years.
• Some pupils' spelling and handwriting errors limit how well they record their thoughts and ideas.
• Occasional teacher questioning does not probe deeply enough to address pupils' misconceptions.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with EHC plans participate in extra-curricular activities less frequently than others.

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 Sprowston Community Academy attended 88.7% 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, 7.1% of pupils at Sprowston Community Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Sprowston Community Academy had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.8% 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, 15.3% of pupils at Sprowston Community Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.2% 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 Sprowston Community Academy received £7,119 and spent £7,118 for each of its 1,739 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £120,000 (-£69 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Broad Horizons Education Trust, income was £8,232 and spending £8,091 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 Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Sprowston Community Academy is part of Broad Horizons Education Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• St. Clements Hill Primary Academy Norwich
• Sewell Park Academy Norwich
• Thorpe St Andrew School and Sixth Form Norwich
• Hillside Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Thorpe Norwich
• Dussindale Primary School Norwich
• Edith Cavell Academy and Nursery Norwich
• Tuckswood Academy Norwich
• Bluebell Primary School Norwich
• Eaton Hall Specialist Academy Norwich
• Hemblington Primary School Norwich

What is Sprowston Community Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Sprowston Community Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Sprowston Community Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Sprowston Community Academy have?

Sprowston Community Academy has 1,702 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sprowston Community Academy cover?

Sprowston Community Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sprowston Community Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.8, and 53% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sprowston Community Academy?

Sprowston Community Academy is at Cannerby Lane, Sprowston, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 8NE.