Outwood Academy Redcar

Outwood Academy Redcar is a smaller-than-average secondary school in the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, serving a disadvantaged community with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and SEN support. Inspectors found safeguarding standards met. Inclusion and personal development/wellbeing are at the expected standard: leaders know pupils well, identify SEND and vulnerable pupils’ needs quickly, and provide effective support. The personal development curriculum, enrichment and careers education are positive features, and disadvantaged pupils participate strongly. Pupils say they feel safe and behaviour is improving. Several areas need attention. Achievement has historically been below national averages in GCSE English and maths and in progress measures, although disadvantaged pupils’ results are closer to national figures for disadvantaged peers and there are signs of improvement. Attendance is a concern, with overall and persistent absence above national averages. Curriculum planning is sound and reading work is effective, but teaching quality is too variable, assessment does not always identify misunderstandings, and behaviour systems are not consistently applied, with suspension rates still above national averages. Leadership is now effective and stable after earlier turbulence, with strong governance and trust support, but improvement has been too slow over time. Next steps focus on consistent assessment, attendance, consistent behaviour implementation, and sustaining stable leadership.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils feeling safe.
• Leaders identify pupils’ needs quickly and accurately, including SEND.
• SEND support plans and reasonable adjustment passports are suitably adapted.
• Short-term support spaces such as the bridge and personalised learning centre are effective.
• Disadvantaged pupils are prioritised and participate strongly in clubs and enrichment.
• Leaders work effectively with external agencies, including the virtual school.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• The personal development curriculum is ambitious and age-appropriate.
• The careers programme is impactful and almost all pupils leave with realistic plans.
• Pupils feel included and cared for, with positive staff-pupil relationships.
• Behaviour is improving, and bullying and discriminatory language are rare.
• The curriculum is carefully planned and sequenced, with key knowledge identified.
• The focus on reading, including the Outwood reads strategy, is effective.
• Staff are positive about leaders’ support for wellbeing and workload.
• Governance meets statutory duties and trustees ask challenging questions.
• Trust support is helping the school move in the right direction.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement in national examinations has been below national averages.
• GCSE English and maths grade 5 or above and Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are below average.
• Historically inconsistent teaching and low attendance have negatively affected outcomes.
• Attendance remains a concern, with overall and persistent absence above national averages.
• Behaviour systems are not consistently applied across the school.
• Suspension rates, though falling, remain above national averages.
• Teaching quality is too variable across the school.
• Some staff do not assess learning well enough to spot misunderstandings.
• Behaviour could be managed more effectively in some classrooms.
• Improvements in the quality of provision have been too slow over time.

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 Outwood Academy Redcar attended 89.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.2% 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, 10.6% of pupils at Outwood Academy Redcar were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 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 Outwood Academy Redcar had 16.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.8% 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, 16.8% of pupils at Outwood Academy Redcar were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% 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 Outwood Academy Redcar received £9,017 and spent £9,179 for each of its 615 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £868,000 (£1,412 per pupil).

Across all 40 schools of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, income was £8,313 and spending £8,200 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 Redcar · Redcar and Cleveland local authority: places and applications

Outwood Academy Redcar is part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Outwood Academy Bydales Redcar
• Outwood Academy Normanby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Ormesby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Riverside Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Acklam Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth Stockton-On-Tees
• Outwood Academy Easingwold York
• Outwood Primary Academy Alne York
• Outwood Academy Ripon Ripon
• Outwood Primary Academy Greystone Ripon

What is Outwood Academy Redcar's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Outwood Academy Redcar is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Outwood Academy Redcar last inspected by Ofsted?

Outwood Academy Redcar was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Outwood Academy Redcar have?

Outwood Academy Redcar has 656 pupils on roll.

What age range does Outwood Academy Redcar cover?

Outwood Academy Redcar for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Outwood Academy Redcar's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.8, and 42% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Outwood Academy Redcar?

Outwood Academy Redcar is at Kirkleatham Lane, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 4AB.