The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)

The Harleston Sancroft Academy is an all-through 3–16 Church of England school within The Diocese of Norwich St Benet’s Multi-Academy Trust. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first inspection under section 5, having opened as a new all-through school in 2022. The school is performing well overall: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are good, while early years provision is outstanding. Safeguarding is effective. Pupils are happy, safe and well cared for, with calm and respectful behaviour across phases. The school has a broad, ambitious all-through curriculum with clear progression from early years to Year 11, strong reading and phonics provision, effective SEND inclusion, and a wide range of enrichment and leadership opportunities. Early years provision is exceptionally strong, with a deep curriculum, precise tailoring to children’s needs, and high levels of engagement and independence. Leaders have a clear understanding of strengths and areas for development, and trust oversight is strong. The main areas for improvement are the consistency of the whole-school writing approach, ensuring teachers check pupils’ understanding precisely enough to address misconceptions and gaps, and making subject-specific careers guidance more comprehensive in the secondary phase.

Strengths

• Broad and ambitious all-through curriculum with clear progression from early years to Year 11
• Strong reading and phonics provision, including effective SEND adaptations and targeted support
• Outstanding early years provision with deep, engaging learning and high independence
• Calm, respectful behaviour and strong pastoral care across the school
• Wide enrichment opportunities and meaningful pupil leadership roles
• Effective SEND identification, inclusion and enhanced provision
• Strong trust oversight and robust governor challenge and support
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Whole-school approach to teaching writing is not consistently applied across the curriculum
• Too much variation in the quality of pupils’ written work across subjects
• Teachers do not always check pupils’ understanding precisely enough
• Some pupils retain misconceptions or gaps in knowledge that hinder prior learning
• Subject-specific careers guidance in the secondary phase is not always comprehensive enough

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 The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 18.4% 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, 6.3% of pupils at The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.7% 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, 14.4% of pupils at The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 8.4% 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 The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) received £8,113 and spent £8,483 for each of its 832 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £382,000 (£460 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of The Diocese of Norwich St Benet'S Multi-Academy Trust, income was £9,471 and spending £9,419 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 South Norfolk · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) is part of The Diocese of Norwich St Benet'S Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 19 schools. The nearest others:

• Alburgh With Denton Church of England Primary Academy Harleston
• Pulham Church of England Primary Academy Diss
• Dickleburgh Church of England Primary Academy (With Pre-School) Diss
• Scole Church of England Primary Academy Diss
• St Mary's Church of England Junior Academy Norwich
• Diss Infant Academy and Nursery Diss
• Diss Church of England Junior Academy Diss
• Tacolneston Church of England Primary Academy Norwich
• Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy Norwich
• Garboldisham Church of England Primary Academy Diss

What is The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)'s Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) last inspected by Ofsted?

The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) have?

The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) has 824 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) cover?

The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) for pupils aged 3 to 16.

What are The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)'s GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.9, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

What are The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)'s SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School)?

The Harleston Sancroft Academy (a 3-16 Church of England School) is at Wilderness Lane, Harleston, Norfolk, IP20 9DD.