Morecambe Bay Academy

Morecambe Bay Academy has demonstrated solid overall performance, achieving a 'Good' rating across all assessed areas during its first inspection. The school fosters a supportive and respectful environment where pupils feel valued and safe, contributing positively to their learning experience. With an ambitious curriculum that benefits the majority of pupils, particularly in languages, the school is committed to increasing its educational standards and expectations. However, some older students have not yet fully benefited from these improvements, which is reflected in their outcomes.

Strengths

• Positive relationships between pupils and staff foster a supportive learning environment.
• High expectations for pupil conduct and achievement are met with effective responses to misbehaviour.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well-structured, helping pupils build knowledge effectively.
• Teachers deliver the curriculum confidently and use assessment skills to identify learning gaps.
• Strong emphasis on reading with inviting library resources and initiatives to encourage wider reading.
• Effective personal, social, health, and economic education helps pupils develop healthy lifestyles.
• Individualised careers support prepares students well for their future.

Areas for Improvement

• A minority of pupils do not attend school as often as they should, impacting their learning.
• Some older pupils do not read as well as they should, hindering access to the wider curriculum.

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 Morecambe Bay Academy attended 87.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.0% 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, 21.3% of pupils at Morecambe Bay 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 Morecambe Bay Academy had 18.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.7% 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, 28.6% of pupils at Morecambe Bay Academy 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 Morecambe Bay Academy received £9,018 and spent £8,512 for each of its 1,023 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £672,000 (£657 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of The Bay Learning Trust, income was £8,281 and spending £8,251 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 Morecambe · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

Morecambe Bay Academy is part of The Bay Learning Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Lancaster High School Lancaster
• Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy Lancaster
• Carnforth High School Carnforth
• Barnacre Road Primary School Longridge
• Longridge High School Preston

What is Morecambe Bay Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Morecambe Bay Academy is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Morecambe Bay Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Morecambe Bay Academy was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Morecambe Bay Academy have?

Morecambe Bay Academy has 1,045 pupils on roll.

What age range does Morecambe Bay Academy cover?

Morecambe Bay Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Morecambe Bay Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.7, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Morecambe Bay Academy?

Morecambe Bay Academy is at Dallam Avenue, Morecambe, Lancashire, LA4 5BG.