Shrewsbury Academy

Shrewsbury Academy is currently rated as requiring improvement across several domains, including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The school, which is part of The Marches Academy Trust, has not been previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, making this its first formal assessment. While there are notable strengths, such as a supportive and caring environment where staff know the pupils well, the school is aware that it must make more rapid progress in certain areas to fully realize its ambitious vision for all students.

Strengths

• High levels of care from staff towards pupils
• Recent improvements in behaviour management leading to calmer learning environments
• Ambitious curriculum overhaul in response to past low outcomes
• Pupils generally express a sense of safety within the school
• Broad curriculum for personal, social, and health education

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in the quality of education across different subjects
• Slow progress in supporting weaker readers, affecting access to the curriculum
• Teachers do not systematically check pupil understanding, leading to unaddressed knowledge gaps
• Learning activities sometimes do not match the curriculum's ambition or pupils' prior knowledge
• Inconsistent support for students with special educational needs and disabilities

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 Shrewsbury Academy attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.3% 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, 18.5% of pupils at Shrewsbury Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Shrewsbury Academy had 15.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.0% 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, 21.7% of pupils at Shrewsbury Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.3% 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 Shrewsbury Academy received £8,897 and spent £8,715 for each of its 802 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £769,000 (£959 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Marches Academy Trust, income was £8,021 and spending £7,895 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 Shrewsbury · Shropshire local authority: places and applications

Shrewsbury Academy is part of Marches Academy Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• Grange Primary School Shrewsbury
• Oakmeadow Church of England Primary and Nursery School Shrewsbury
• Woodlands School Shrewsbury
• St Andrew's Church of England Primary School and Nursery Shrewsbury
• Weston Lullingfields Church of England Primary School and Nursery Shrewsbury
• Cockshutt CofE Primary School and Nursery Ellesmere
• Kinnerley Church of England Primary School and Nursery Oswestry
• Lower Heath CofE Primary School Whitchurch
• West Felton Church of England Primary School and Nursery Oswestry
• Tilstock CofE Primary and Nursery Whitchurch

What is Shrewsbury Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shrewsbury Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was Shrewsbury Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Shrewsbury Academy was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does Shrewsbury Academy have?

Shrewsbury Academy has 817 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shrewsbury Academy cover?

Shrewsbury Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Shrewsbury Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 31.9, and 20% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Shrewsbury Academy?

Shrewsbury Academy is at Corndon Crescent, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 4LL.