University Academy Long Sutton

University Academy Long Sutton requires significant improvement following this full inspection. Pupils are happy, well cared for and enjoy warm relationships with staff, and the school provides a broad, ambitious curriculum enriched by overseas trips, clubs, leadership roles and community events. Leaders have significantly improved behaviour, and the school is typically calm and orderly with rare incidents of bullying or discrimination. However, pupils' attainment and progress have been consistently below national averages over time, including for disadvantaged pupils, and too many pupils leave without the knowledge, skills and qualifications they need for their next steps. Attendance is below national averages and has been for some time, and teaching quality is inconsistent, with staff not routinely checking learning or adapting work well for pupils with SEND or weak foundational skills. Leadership improvement work is in its early stages, supported by a strengthened multi-academy trust, but a coordinated approach to monitoring the impact of actions for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils is lacking.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, well cared for and enjoy warm relationships with staff
• The school provides a broad and ambitious curriculum with secure teacher subject knowledge
• Leaders have significantly improved pupil behaviour and reduced disruptions to learning
• The school is typically calm and orderly, with rare bullying or discriminatory incidents
• A wide range of enrichment activities, clubs and overseas trips raise aspiration and provide memorable experiences
• The PSHE curriculum develops character and prepares pupils for adulthood and modern Britain
• Careers guidance is detailed, with employer access, work experience, university visits and personalised advice
• The trust provides experienced support and holds school leaders to account effectively
• Staff value the school's support for their wellbeing and workload management
• Pupils with low starting points typically make progress on a par with similar pupils nationally
• Alternative provision pupils are kept safe and receive an appropriate curriculum
• Leaders accurately identify pupils needing wellbeing or mental health support

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' attainment and progress are consistently below national averages over time
• Disadvantaged pupils' achievement has been consistently below national averages
• Too many pupils do not attend school regularly enough
• Teaching quality is inconsistent, with learning not routinely checked or revisited
• Expectations of what pupils can achieve are sometimes too low
• Teaching does not consistently adapt to overcome barriers for pupils with SEND or weak English and maths skills
• Basic writing and spelling errors are too often not corrected, so pupils repeat mistakes
• Identification of specific SEND barriers to learning lacks precision
• Oversight of strategies supporting disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care is lacking
• Leaders' improvement work is in its early stages and has not yet had significant impact
• Extra-curricular participation data is not strategically used to maximise impact

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 University Academy Long Sutton attended 89.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 33.9% 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, 15.5% of pupils at University Academy Long Sutton were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 University Academy Long Sutton had 14.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.0% 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, 16.4% of pupils at University Academy Long Sutton 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 University Academy Long Sutton received £8,949 and spent £9,110 for each of its 696 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £368,000 (-£529 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of University of Lincoln Academy Trust, income was £9,210 and spending £9,106 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 Spalding · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

University Academy Long Sutton is part of University of Lincoln Academy Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• University Academy Holbeach Spalding
• Holbeach Primary Academy Spalding
• Holbeach Bank Primary Academy Spalding
• Monkshouse Primary Academy Spalding
• Gosberton House Academy Spalding
• Wrangle Primary Academy Boston

What is University Academy Long Sutton's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for University Academy Long Sutton is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was University Academy Long Sutton last inspected by Ofsted?

University Academy Long Sutton was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does University Academy Long Sutton have?

University Academy Long Sutton has 708 pupils on roll.

What age range does University Academy Long Sutton cover?

University Academy Long Sutton for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are University Academy Long Sutton's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 34.0, and 18% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is University Academy Long Sutton?

University Academy Long Sutton is at 84 Little London, Long Sutton, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 9LF.