Queen Katharine Academy

Queen Katharine Academy is a large mixed secondary school in Peterborough, part of the Thomas Deacon Education Trust, inspected in March 2025. This was its first routine inspection since the pandemic, and it came after a period of leadership change, with an interim principal in post since January 2025. Inspectors found serious weaknesses in the quality of education and in behaviour and attitudes, while personal development and leadership and management require improvement. Sixth-form provision is stronger and was judged good. Safeguarding is effective. The sixth form is a notable strength: teachers are subject experts, assessment is used well, and students, including those with SEND, are supported to catch up and discuss their learning confidently. The school also has a developing reading culture, a well-designed personal development programme, effective safeguarding, and staff who are proud to work there. New leaders have introduced clearer policies and systems, including a new behaviour policy, and the curriculum has been recently reviewed so that it sets out what pupils should know and when. However, teaching does not consistently match the ambition of the curriculum, assessment is not used well enough to identify gaps, and most pupils do not achieve well, particularly at the end of key stage 4. Pupils with SEND are identified too late and do not consistently receive the adaptations they need. Behaviour is a significant concern: a significant minority of pupils behave disrespectfully, too many pupils feel unsafe at social times, bullying is not reliably addressed, and new behaviour systems are not applied consistently. This contributes to high suspensions and exclusions, below-average attendance and high persistent absence. Enrichment uptake is low, reading support is inconsistent, and the impact of recent leadership changes is not yet evident across the school.

Strengths

• Sixth-form provision is stronger than the rest of the school, with expert teachers and effective use of assessment.
• Sixth-form students, including those with SEND, are well supported to catch up and discuss their learning confidently.
• The school has a developing reading culture, including register-and-read sessions and a bespoke phonics programme.
• The personal development programme is well designed and helps pupils understand local and online risks.
• Pupil leaders are proud of their work in fundraising, community action and environmental awareness.
• Staff are proud of the school and feel leaders are considerate of workload during change.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• New leaders have introduced clearer policies and systems, including a new behaviour policy.
• The curriculum has been recently reviewed and clearly sets out what pupils should know and when.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching does not align with the ambition of the curriculum, leaving significant gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• Teachers do not use assessment well enough to check prior knowledge before moving on.
• Most pupils do not achieve well, and outcomes at the end of key stage 4 are weak.
• Pupils with SEND are identified too late, and teachers do not consistently adapt learning to meet their needs.
• A significant minority of pupils behave disrespectfully, and too many pupils feel afraid or unsafe at social times.
• Bullying is not consistently dealt with in a way that gives pupils confidence to report it.
• New behaviour systems are not applied consistently, contributing to high suspensions and exclusions.
• Attendance is below the national average, with high levels of persistent absence.
• Enrichment opportunities are not promoted well enough, so few pupils take part.
• Reading support is inconsistent and does not always match individual pupils' needs.
• Leadership changes are very recent, and their impact is not yet evident across the school.
• Weaknesses in leadership over time have led to a decline in standards.

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 Queen Katharine Academy attended 90.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 33.8% 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, 22.6% of pupils at Queen Katharine Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 17 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 Queen Katharine Academy had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.8% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Queen Katharine Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.3% 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 Queen Katharine Academy received £8,862 and spent £8,624 for each of its 1,690 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £358,000 (£212 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Thomas Deacon Education Trust, income was £8,207 and spending £8,153 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 Peterborough · Peterborough local authority: places and applications

Queen Katharine Academy is part of Thomas Deacon Education Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Welbourne Primary Academy Peterborough
• Gladstone Primary Academy Peterborough
• Thomas Deacon Academy Peterborough
• Upwood Primary Academy Huntingdon
• Warboys Primary Academy Huntingdon

What is Queen Katharine Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen Katharine Academy is Inadequate, from an inspection in October 2025.

When was Queen Katharine Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen Katharine Academy was last inspected in October 2025.

How many pupils does Queen Katharine Academy have?

Queen Katharine Academy has 1,619 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen Katharine Academy cover?

Queen Katharine Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Queen Katharine Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 32.5, and 21% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Queen Katharine Academy?

Queen Katharine Academy is at Mountsteven Avenue, Walton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE4 6HX.