Wyvern St Edmund's Academy

Wyvern St Edmund's is a large secondary school formed from the merger of Wyvern College and St Edmund's, and this was its first section 5 inspection since opening as one school in 2022. Inspectors found a cohesive community with high expectations, generally good behaviour, calm lessons and strong personal development. Leadership and management are also good, with a clear improvement vision and effective trust support, and safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education requires improvement because the recently redesigned curriculum is not yet consistently well implemented across all subjects. The main concerns are in teaching and SEND support. Some curriculum areas are less developed than others, and checks on what pupils know are sometimes not gathered or acted on, so pupils can move on too quickly and fail to retain learning. Adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently in place in classrooms, which limits their progress. Behaviour is a strength overall, but some pupils lack confidence to report bullying, and suspensions, while reducing, have been high. Attendance has improved through tenacious work with families, and the school offers a broad enrichment programme and well-implemented PSHCE and careers education.

Strengths

• Cohesive community culture with GRACE values evident throughout the school
• Pupils generally behave well, follow routines and learn in calm lessons
• Bullying reports are followed up promptly and addressed through initiatives such as the anti-bullying alliance
• Curriculum has been redesigned to be carefully sequenced and ambitious in most subjects
• Teachers use modelling, examples and revisiting to help pupils learn and recall subject knowledge
• Pupils with SEND are thoroughly identified and have specific support planned
• Reading support is provided for pupils with gaps, and pupils are encouraged to read widely
• Full and varied enrichment offer, including clubs and access arrangements, with high pupil attendance
• Well-implemented PSHCE and careers programme prepares pupils for healthy relationships, mental health and next steps
• Clear leadership vision, effective assurance systems and strong trust support for staff development
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Quality of education requires improvement because curriculum implementation is uneven across subjects
• Some curriculum areas are still being developed and are less well established than others
• Assessment checks are sometimes not gathered or acted on effectively, so pupils move on before they are secure
• Pupils can fail to retain or recall learning over time because they are moved on too quickly
• Classroom adaptations for pupils with SEND are too often not in place or not used well
• Some pupils lack confidence to report bullying or concerns
• Suspensions have been high, although they have reduced recently

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 Wyvern St Edmund's Academy attended 90.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.2% 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, 6.8% of pupils at Wyvern St Edmund's Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Wyvern St Edmund's Academy had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.1% 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, 14.7% of pupils at Wyvern St Edmund's Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% 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 Wyvern St Edmund's Academy received £8,128 and spent £7,829 for each of its 1,336 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £63,000 (-£47 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Magna Learning Partnership, income was £7,766 and spending £7,975 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 Salisbury · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy is part of Magna Learning Partnership, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Salisbury Sixth Form College Salisbury
• Old Sarum Primary School Salisbury
• Pembroke Park Primary School Salisbury
• Bemerton St John Church of England Primary Salisbury
• Sarum Academy Salisbury
• Amesbury Archer Primary School Amesbury
• The Trafalgar School at Downton Salisbury
• Amesbury Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Salisbury
• Morgan's Vale and Woodfalls Church of England Primary School Salisbury
• The New Forest Church of England Primary School Wilts

What is Wyvern St Edmund's Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Wyvern St Edmund's Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Wyvern St Edmund's Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Wyvern St Edmund's Academy have?

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy has 1,337 pupils on roll.

What age range does Wyvern St Edmund's Academy cover?

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Wyvern St Edmund's Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.1, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Wyvern St Edmund's Academy?

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy is at Church Road, Laverstock, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 1RE.