St Johns CofE Academy
St Johns CofE Academy is a free school in Wantage for boys and girls aged 2 to 16. It has 327 pupils and room for 1,095. About 14 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England.
Stanley Hall Road, Wantage, OX12 0GR01235 933303stjohnsceacademy.orgMr Rick Holroyd headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
0 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
919 places were empty (90% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
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 who applied got a place (54 offers for 60 places). 48 families put it down as their first choice and 48 of them got in (100%).
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | First choices who got in | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 60 | 48 | 152 | 54 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
| 2026 Secondary | 120 | 166 | 298 | 120 | 72% | 1.2 miles (catchment area) | LA |
| 2025 Primary | 60 | 53 | 131 | 53 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 120 | 156 | 300 | 120 | 74% | 0.8 miles | LA |
| 2024 Primary | 60 | 50 | 123 | 54 | 100% | – all offered | LA |
| 2023 Primary | 60 | 34 | 45 | 45 | 100% | – all offered | 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.
What a home within 1.0 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (26), emotional and mental health (17), Autistic spectrum disorder (15), Moderate learning difficulty (6), Specific learning difficulty (6), Hearing impairment (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 327 | 156 | 87 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 13% | 4% | 7% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 11% | 10% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 15% | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.3% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 19.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 5.1 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millbrook Primary School | Academy | 720 m | 482 | Good 2023 | 46 | Compare |
| Grove Church of England School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 182 | No overall grade 2024 | 26 | Compare |
| Fitzwaryn School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 126 | Outstanding 2022 | – | Compare |
| Stockham Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 203 | Not inspected | 12 | Compare |
| Charlton Primary School | Academy | 1.5 miles | 444 | Not inspected | 40 | Compare |
| Wantage Primary Academy | Free school | 1.5 miles | 322 | Outstanding 2023 | 79 | Compare |
| King Alfred's | Academy | 1.6 miles | 1,708 | Report card 2026 | 16 | Compare |
| Huckleberry Therapeutic School | Independent (grammar) | 1.6 miles | 20 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Johns CofE Academy a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score St Johns CofE Academy yet.
How many pupils does St Johns CofE Academy have?
327 pupils aged 2 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,095 places, so it is 30% full.
Is St Johns CofE Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 919 places were empty in 2024/25 (90% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at St Johns CofE Academy?
Pupils were in school 92.7% 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 St Johns CofE Academy?
The average class had 27.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does St Johns CofE Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Stanley Hall Road, Wantage, OX12 0GR
- Telephone
- 01235 933303
- Website
- www.stjohnsceacademy.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Rick Holroyd
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- All-through school, ages 2-16, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Multi-academy trust
- Cambrian Learning Trust (18 schools)
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Ward
- Grove North
- Constituency
- Didcot and Wantage
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2023 (academy free school)
- URN
- 149771 · LAESTAB 9314022 · UKPRN 10093069
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: Oxfordshire council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.