Accrington Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 March 2025

Most pupils enjoy attending Accrington Academy. They are beginning to benefit from recent improvements to the school. For example, the school has recently revised the behaviour policy to ensure that rules are clear and understood. Pupils say that behaviour is better than before and they attend school regularly. The school has increased both the ambition in the curriculum and its expectations of all pupils. However, improvements to the quality of education that pupils receive are still at an early stage. There is considerable variability in how the curriculum is delivered. As a result, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and students in the sixth form, do not learn as well as they should. Pupils are kind and considerate. They forge positive relationships with staff. Most pupils, including students in the sixth form, feel safe and report having a trusted adult to speak with. Staff respond promptly and effectively when pupils share their concerns. There are many opportunities for personal development. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities and visits, including trips abroad to Malawi and New York. Pupils enjoy opportunities to contribute to the development of the school through taking on leadership roles, for example on the school council.

What the school should improve

• Some of the learning activities that pupils experience do not build their understanding well enough. Where this is the case, pupils do not explore topics in depth or tackle more challenging work. The school should ensure that teachers are equipped to design learning activities that sufficiently cover key curriculum content, so that pupils achieve well in these subjects.
• The checks on pupils' knowledge and understanding across the curriculum are not fully effective. As a result, pupils struggle to recall previous learning and do not build their knowledge well enough. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment strategies effectively so that pupils learn and remember the curriculum successfully in all subjects.
• The school's quality assurance systems are not as effective as they should be. This hinders the school, including those responsible for governors from having a sufficiently detailed picture of the strengths and weaknesses in the quality of education provided. The school should review its approach to quality assurance to ensure that this provides the most useful information to drive further improvement of the school.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)