City of London Academy (Southwark)

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 February 2026

Pupils rise to the school's high expectations. They behave very positively, attend regularly and achieve consistently highly across the curriculum. Pupils’ academic achievements, including in their end of Year 11 and sixth-form examinations, is something to celebrate. Disadvantaged pupils achieve particularly well. Pupils receive high-quality teaching. Teachers make sure that pupils receive the help and guidance that they need. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who benefit from the right support packages that help them to access their learning successfully and keep up with their peers. One of the school's values, ‘integritas’, lies at the heart of its work. Everyone works to support pupils to develop the importance of acting with integrity as part of their character development. This is seen in pupils’ awareness of right from wrong and how they treat each other and adults with respect. The school’s routines for the start of the day and pupils’ silent movement around the building are embedded. Bullying is something that staff take seriously, including the current focus on staff spotting signs of what the school calls ‘subtle bullying’. Staff work well together to make sure that the school is a calm and safe space for pupils. The school is rightly proud of its ‘Basketball Academy’ for sixth-form students. The teams in the academy compete in national leagues, and some students are successful in gaining scholarship to universities in the United States. Pupils learn about a range of topics that support their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. They also benefit from a well-developed careers education programme. The annual careers fair is a particular highlight where over 75 employers, education and training providers come together at the school to interact with pupils. Sixth-form students are particularly keen to talk about how well supported they are in applying for university places or an apprenticeship.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should make sure that the implementation of the curriculum to cover relationships and sex education and health education has the intended impact so that pupils develop a more detailed understanding of the taught content.
• Leaders should ensure that there are exceptionally high standards across all subjects and phases. This should include work to embed the revised approach for those few pupils new to the school who require phonics teaching to build up their reading fluency.

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