King Edward VII Academy

King Edward VII Academy is a secondary comprehensive school and sixth form within the Inspiration Trust. It was inspected for the first time under section 5 in October 2024 and was judged good in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The report describes a school that has improved rapidly from a low base: expectations for work and behaviour are high, pupils behave well and feel safe, and the curriculum is ambitious and well taught. Reading and careers education are particular strengths, and sixth-form students achieve the grades they need for their chosen pathways. Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is improving, and pupils with SEND access the curriculum alongside their peers, but the school does not always identify their specific needs precisely enough, so some do not progress as well as they should. Attendance has improved, including in the sixth form, but some pupils still do not attend regularly enough and the plans to address this are only in the early stages. Leadership is strong, trust support is effective, safeguarding is effective, and staff feel well supported. The report notes that the school’s predecessor was previously judged to require improvement and that this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• Ambitious curriculum that sets out what pupils will learn and the order in which it is taught
• Strong teaching, with teachers using secure subject knowledge and checking pupils’ understanding in lessons
• Effective trust support, including high-quality training for staff
• A strong reading culture, with daily reading for pleasure and skilled support for pupils who struggle
• Pupils with SEND access the curriculum alongside their peers
• Good behaviour and positive attitudes, with clear expectations applied consistently
• Attendance is improving, including in the sixth form
• Strong careers education that informs pupils about future opportunities
• Sixth-form students achieve the grades they need for their chosen pathways
• A wide range of enrichment activities and leadership opportunities
• Effective personal development, including character education and preparation for life in modern Britain
• Strong leadership and trust oversight, with rapid improvement and growing parental confidence
• Staff feel well supported and workload is managed sensitively
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Plans to support some pupils with SEND are not specific enough, so their needs are not always precisely identified
• Some pupils with SEND do not progress as well as they could because teachers’ adaptations are sometimes not well matched to their needs
• Some pupils still do not attend school regularly enough
• Plans to improve attendance for all pupils who need it are in the early stages of implementation

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 King Edward VII Academy attended 90.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.9% 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, 7.1% of pupils at King Edward VII Academy 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 King Edward VII Academy had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.2% 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, 13.6% of pupils at King Edward VII Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 King Edward VII Academy received £7,907 and spent £7,881 for each of its 1,181 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £479,000 (£405 per pupil).

Across all 18 schools of Inspiration Trust, income was £8,318 and spending £8,382 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 King'S Lynn · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

King Edward VII Academy is part of Inspiration Trust, which runs 18 schools. The nearest others:

• Wayland Academy Thetford
• The Thetford Academy Thetford
• Queensway Junior Academy Thetford
• Queensway Infant Academy Thetford
• Hethersett Academy Norwich
• Cringleford Prep Cringleford
• Norwich Primary Academy Norwich
• Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Free School Norwich
• Jane Austen College Norwich
• Hewett Academy Norwich

What is King Edward VII Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for King Edward VII Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was King Edward VII Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

King Edward VII Academy was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does King Edward VII Academy have?

King Edward VII Academy has 1,172 pupils on roll.

What age range does King Edward VII Academy cover?

King Edward VII Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are King Edward VII Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.1, and 41% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is King Edward VII Academy?

King Edward VII Academy is at Gaywood Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 2QB.