Lakelands Academy
similar schools
Lakelands Academy is a converter academy in Ellesmere for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 590 pupils, 10 more than it has places for. About 23 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 29 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 30% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Oswestry Road, Ellesmere, SY12 0EA01691 622543lakelandsacademy.org.ukMr Mark Hignett acting headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 9 June 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 18 January 2022 | S5 Inspection | Good |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
106 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | Shropshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 106 | 106 | 97 | 100 | 101 | 96 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 43.1 | 38.3 | 41.6 | 41.1 | 45.2 | 43.4 | 43.1 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.63 | -0.36 | -0.79 | -0.06 | -0.25 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 34% | 29% | 29% | 31% | 30% | 36% | 37% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 61% | 45% | 58% | 52% | 68% | 64% | 60% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.93 | 3.51 | 3.79 | 3.72 | 4.23 | 3.93 | 3.76 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 42% | 40% | 51% | 51% | 72% | 54% | 33% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 35.5 | 31.1 | 32.9 | 38.2 | 41.4 | 32.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 44.8 | 40.2 | 44.5 | 41.8 | 46.2 | 46.6 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 23.6 | 28.2 | 26.0 | 23.9 | 18.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 59.0 | 60.3 | 63.6 | 60.2 | 57.0 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 18 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Media / Film / TV (11% here, 55% across England), Business (23% here, 51% across England), Art and Design (35% here, 58% across England), Drama (41% here, 60% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 106 | 13% | 43% | 65% | 54% | 2,314 of 3,210 |
| Mathematics | 105 | 12% | 43% | 68% | 53% | 2,251 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 104 | 8% | 41% | 64% | 58% | 2,632 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 87 | 7% | 35% | 60% | 36% | 1,517 of 3,084 |
| Geography | 69 | 10% | 35% | 57% | 51% | 2,409 of 3,116 |
| French | 48 | 17% | 71% | 88% | 60% | 681 of 1,974 |
| History | 34 | 18% | 44% | 62% | 52% | 1,976 of 3,126 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 33 | 18% | 58% | 76% | 52% | 432 of 1,098 |
| Business | 26 | 12% | 23% | 50% | 51% | 1,630 of 1,806 |
| Drama | 22 | 0% | 41% | 55% | 60% | 695 of 844 |
| Design & Technology | 20 | 20% | 45% | 50% | 50% | 804 of 1,478 |
| Biology | 19 | 37% | 74% | 95% | 82% | – |
| Chemistry | 19 | 32% | 63% | 95% | 81% | – |
| Physics | 19 | 26% | 63% | 90% | 82% | – |
| Media / Film / TV | 19 | 0% | 11% | 21% | 55% | – |
| Religious Studies | 17 | 29% | 65% | 77% | 60% | – |
| Art and Design | 17 | 18% | 35% | 65% | 58% | – |
| Computer Science | 10 | 0% | 30% | 60% | 56% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 4% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
The last child to get a place lived 14.3 miles away in 2026, 11.3 miles away in 2025, 6.5 miles away in 2024. Those cut-offs are for children living outside the catchment area; every child inside it got a place. Brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups are placed first. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child in the catchment area who applied got a place. Outside the catchment, the last place went to a child living 14.3 miles away.
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 116 | 109 | 257 | 116 | 14.3 miles (distance, outside the catchment area) | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 116 | 113 | 228 | 118 | 11.3 miles (distance, outside the catchment area) | LA |
| 2024 Secondary | 116 | 127 | 254 | 116 | 6.5 miles (distance, outside the catchment area) | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 27 pupils, for autism.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Shropshire with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (29), language and communications needs (24), emotional and mental health (23), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (21), Moderate learning difficulty (13), Specific learning difficulty (12).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 590 | 581 | 576 | 549 | 555 | 560 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 23% | 21% | 20% | 18% | 16% | 15% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 15% | 21% | 16% | 12% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 7% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 6.4% | 7.6% | 8.2% | 10.2% | 6.8% | 5.2% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.6% | 5.4% | 6.0% | 8.4% | 6.0% | 4.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.8% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 20.4% | 22.8% | 24.9% | 35.1% | 18.8% | 11.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 10.0 | 8.2 | 15.3 | 15.9 | 7.7 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 97 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 75%, compared with 86% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 84% | 84% | 86% | 89% |
| Education | 76% | 68% | 74% | 85% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 5% | 6% | 1% |
| Work | 4% | 11% | 6% | 3% |
| Not in education, work or training | 9% | 13% | 9% | 6% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Maelor School | Foundation | 3.6 miles | 787 | Estyn, no grade | 83 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Lakelands Academy with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 29 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 29% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 20 to 40. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.11 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 106 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.14 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.20 | DfE progress measure; 106 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | well above | +0.15 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.05 | 2024/25; 594 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.05 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 106 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | below | -0.05 | 97 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Lakelands Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. Lakelands Academy scores 29 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 30% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 20 to 40, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Lakelands Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 9 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as needs attention, leadership as as expected.
How good are Lakelands Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 34% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 43.1, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished most of a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Lakelands Academy have?
590 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 580 places, so it is 102% full.
Is Lakelands Academy oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 14.3 miles away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Lakelands Academy?
Pupils were in school 93.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 20% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Lakelands Academy?
The average class had 23.4 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 24% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Lakelands Academy have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for autism. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Lakelands Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 84% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Oswestry Road, Ellesmere, SY12 0EA
- Telephone
- 01691 622543
- Website
- www.lakelandsacademy.org.uk
- Acting Headteacher
- Mr Mark Hignett
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The 3-18 Education Trust (14 schools)
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Ward
- Ellesmere Urban
- Constituency
- North Shropshire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2012 (academy converter)
- URN
- 139102 · LAESTAB 8934387 · UKPRN 10039722
- Formerly
- The Lakelands School, Sports and Language College
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Shropshire council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.