Horbury Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 January 2026

Values such as ambition, compassion and resilience are embedded across the school. Staff and pupils have a shared ambition for what everyone can achieve. Pupils regularly demonstrate excellent commitment to their learning. Pupils achieve highly, including the most disadvantaged. Classrooms are calm and purposeful. Pupils benefit from precise teaching. They know what is expected of them and are resilient to new challenges. Staff understand pupils' individual needs well. Lessons are adapted to help all pupils access and understand new learning. Effective collaboration across the school ensures that pupils achieve their potential. The majority of pupils conduct themselves well and meet the school's high expectations. There are regular opportunities for them to be rewarded for their effort and achievement. A small proportion of pupils struggle to meet the school's expectations. Support for these pupils to re-engage in their education is having a positive impact on their attitude to learning. Bullying is rare. Pupils trust staff to keep them safe and are confident to report issues they might have. The school has effective systems to track any unkind behaviour or concerns about pupils' wellbeing. These are acted upon swiftly and effectively. Support for pupils' mental health is particularly well considered. Pastoral care is tailored to meet individual pupils' needs. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and supportive. Despite the positive culture, supportive atmosphere and high expectations at the school, some pupils still do not attend regularly enough. These pupils are often the most disadvantaged and are missing out on important opportunities. Leaders' actions to address the decline in attendance of disadvantaged pupils has only recently begun to have an impact. More remains to be done to ensure all pupils attend in line with, or above, national averages. There is a shared ambition among everyone at the school that this will be achieved rapidly.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that the attendance for all groups of pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged, improves in a sustained manner over time.
• Leaders should further enhance the personal development programme, specifically the engagement levels in enrichment activities and the school's careers programme, so that pupils are increasingly well prepared for life beyond education.

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