Folkestone Academy

Folkestone Academy is a larger-than-average secondary school in the Turner Schools Academy Trust, serving a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. It has a specially resourced provision for autistic pupils and has seen significant leadership change since the last inspection, with a new executive headteacher and head of school starting in September 2025. Safeguarding standards are met, and inspectors found an inclusive school where pupils feel safe, supported and able to belong. The school's inclusion work is a particular strength: leaders identify barriers early and provide effective support for disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND and pupils new to English. Attendance has improved to close to national averages, behaviour is typically good, and pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, strong reading and language support, a well-developed personal development programme and a wide range of enrichment and careers opportunities. Post-16 provision is also improving, with outcomes now closer to national averages. The main area needing attention is achievement at the end of key stage 4, which has been below national average over time, especially for disadvantaged pupils. Some pupils struggle where curriculum and teaching improvements are more recent, including in mathematics, and assessment/checking is not consistently embedded in all subjects, so misconceptions can persist. Leaders' next steps focus on embedding highly effective teaching across all subjects and year groups and maintaining high expectations for pupils' attitudes to learning.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive ethos where pupils feel they belong.
• Early and accurate identification of barriers for disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND and pupils new to English.
• Highly effective, well-trained support in the specially resourced provision for autistic pupils.
• Strong use of pupil premium funding to remove barriers to trips and extracurricular activities.
• Decisive action has improved attendance, now close to national averages, with SEND attendance above national.
• Pupils typically behave well; low-level disruption is rare and bullying is dealt with swiftly.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with clearly sequenced key knowledge.
• Effective support for reading, writing, spoken communication and mathematics.
• High-quality language and vocabulary teaching for pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• Clear leadership ambition and well-prioritised improvement actions.
• Positive staff working environment with consideration for wellbeing and workload.
• Governance provides effective support and challenge and fulfils statutory duties.
• Well-planned personal development and PSHE programme, including online safety and healthy relationships.
• Wide range of enrichment opportunities, including the Turner 25 programme, with strong participation from disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Comprehensive careers education with meaningful employer encounters and positive destinations.
• Post-16 provision meets students' needs and outcomes have improved to broadly national averages.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and effective pastoral care.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement at the end of key stage 4 has been below the national average over time, limiting pupils' readiness for next steps.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes at key stage 4 remain below national averages overall.
• In some subjects, staff do not consistently check pupils' understanding, so misconceptions can persist.
• Some pupils struggle to learn and remember important knowledge where curriculum improvements are more recent, including mathematics.
• Persistent absence remains above the national average.
• Pupils' wider understanding of democracy beyond school is sometimes less secure.
• Highly effective teaching is not yet fully and securely embedded across all subjects and year groups.
• The culture of high expectations for pupils' attitudes to learning is not yet fully embedded.

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 Folkestone Academy attended 90.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.3% 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, 8.7% of pupils at Folkestone 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 Folkestone Academy had 13.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.0% 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, 17.1% of pupils at Folkestone Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.9% 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 2023–24 Folkestone Academy received £8,251 and spent £8,119 for each of its 1,046 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £190,000 (£182 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Turner Schools, income was £7,678 and spending £7,576 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 Folkestone · Kent local authority: places and applications

Folkestone Academy is part of Turner Schools, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Folkestone Primary Folkestone
• Morehall Primary School and Nursery Folkestone
• Turner Free School Folkestone
• Martello Primary Folkestone
• Dover Christ Church Academy Dover
• Chartham Primary School Canterbury
• St Stephen's Infant School Canterbury

What is Folkestone Academy's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Folkestone Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Folkestone Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Folkestone Academy have?

Folkestone Academy has 936 pupils on roll.

What age range does Folkestone Academy cover?

Folkestone Academy for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Folkestone Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.0, and 26% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Folkestone Academy?

Folkestone Academy is at Academy Lane, Folkestone, Kent, CT19 5FP.