Rossington All Saints Academy Review 2026: A structured 11 to 16 Church of England secondary with a strong careers focus

A longer school day with a built-in enrichment period sets the rhythm here. Lessons begin promptly after an 8:20am arrival, with a dedicated session later in the day for clubs, targeted support, and wider experiences.

Rossington All Saints Academy sits within Doncaster Local Authority and is part of Delta Academies Trust, working in partnership with the Diocese of Sheffield. For families who value clear routines, explicit expectations, and a school that invests in employability and next-step planning, the model is easy to understand. The 2022 inspection narrative is broadly positive about curriculum ambition, classroom climate, and careers, while being frank about personal development as an area needing sharper, more consistent practice.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. The practical costs to plan for are the usual ones, including uniform, trips, and lunches (currently shown as £2.55 for a school meal on the academy’s published FAQs).

The academy’s Church of England identity is not an add-on. It shows up in the daily pattern, with a timetabled collective worship and form learning time built into the mid-morning slot for every year group. The language used across the trust and the academy leans towards aspiration and personal growth, framed through a Christian vision of education that emphasises hope, dignity, and building a “portfolio of experience” that supports future prospects.

A second defining feature is the way leadership positions student voice as a practical mechanism rather than a slogan. The RASA Student Parliament is set up with a Student Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, supported by year-group secretaries, with weekly meetings and projects designed to address day-to-day issues and events planning. In a school of this size, that kind of structure matters, it provides a route for concerns to be surfaced early, and it gives students a credible leadership ladder that is not limited to the most confident speakers.

Pastoral messaging is framed around belonging and expectations. The academy publishes a clear strategic vision that prioritises behaviour that protects learning time and a pastoral system designed to provide high levels of care. This is important context for parents weighing fit. A school can be warm but disorganised, or orderly but emotionally thin. The stated ambition here is to combine predictable routines with support that is responsive when pupils need help.

For GCSE outcomes, the academy’s performance sits in the mainstream middle of the national distribution rather than at either extreme. Ranked 1,346th in England and 4th in Doncaster for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school’s results align with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

Looking at the underlying measures, Attainment 8 is 48.2, and Progress 8 is +0.08, which indicates pupils make slightly above-average progress from their starting points. EBacc average point score is 4.36, and 26.9% of pupils achieve grade 5 or above across the EBacc suite.

The practical implication for families is straightforward. This is not a school where headline exam data alone should drive a decision. The case for Rossington All Saints Academy is better understood as a combination of broadly solid academic outcomes, structured teaching routines, and a sustained push on literacy, careers, and wider participation, rather than a narrow exam-first identity.

The curriculum intent is described in plain terms, with an emphasis on sequencing and revisiting knowledge so that pupils remember more over time. External evaluation also points to staff routinely addressing misconceptions and scaffolding learning in lessons, which is usually what parents mean when they ask whether teaching is “clear” and whether gaps are caught early.

Literacy is a visible thread. The academy positions reading as a habit to be built deliberately, supported by a Learning Resource Centre that pupils use for independent reading, and by structured comprehension checks through Accelerated Reader in English. For pupils who need extra practice, the school describes targeted reading support and more frequent practice as a priority.

Homework and independent study are supported through supervised after-school access for pupils who cannot easily work online at home, and through routine access to the Learning Resource Centre for printing and quiet study from 8:10am. The point is not the platform name, it is the mechanism. A school that creates staffed time and space for independent study tends to reduce the attainment gap between pupils who have strong home study conditions and those who do not.

SEND support is described by external evaluation as a clear strength, with knowledgeable staff and an approach that keeps pupils on an ambitious curriculum with appropriate adaptations. The academy’s published SEND information also lists the kinds of needs it supports in mainstream provision, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and speech and language needs.

There is no sixth form on site, so the main transition point is the move at 16 into sixth form, further education, apprenticeships, or employment with training. What matters, therefore, is how well the school prepares pupils to make a good choice, and how well it supports pupils who are not aiming for a conventional academic route.

Careers education is a defining pillar. The 2022 report describes an exceptional careers programme, with regular opportunities to learn about the world of work and structured support for key stage 4 pupils choosing next steps. There is also reference to structured STEM project work with local employers, which is precisely the kind of experience that helps pupils connect classroom learning to real job families and training routes.

For higher-attaining pupils, academic aspiration is reinforced through enrichment that connects pupils to university learning. The report references The Brilliant Club, delivering tutorials via Sheffield Hallam University, which signals that high expectations are not limited to GCSE grades, they extend to academic confidence and cultural capital. For other pupils, the same careers infrastructure can support more vocationally focused pathways, particularly where confidence and planning matter as much as raw attainment.

Year 7 entry is coordinated by Doncaster Council rather than being managed solely by the academy. For September 2026 entry, the published closing date for on-time applications was 31 October 2025, with the National Offer Day on 2 March 2026. The council encourages families to include their catchment-area school among preferences even if it is not their first choice, which is a sensible risk-management step when several schools are oversubscribed.

Demand indicators suggest a degree of competition, but not the extreme intensity seen in selective or high-profile urban comprehensives. For the relevant entry route, there were 193 applications for 153 offers, meaning about 1.26 applications per place. The academy is recorded as oversubscribed on this measure.

As a Church of England school within a local authority admissions context, families should also expect that supplementary faith-related paperwork may be relevant in the council process, depending on how the admissions policy is framed in the published LA materials for that year. The best practical advice is to read the Doncaster secondary admissions booklet for the intake year you are applying for, then cross-check the academy’s admissions information pages for any school-specific steps. Parents who want to sanity-check their plan can also use the FindMySchoolMap Search to understand practical travel distance and routes, especially if more than one Doncaster school is feasible.

The latest Ofsted inspection (2 and 3 November 2022) judged the academy Good overall, with Good for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, and Requires Improvement for personal development. The same report confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Beyond the headline judgements, the detail matters for parents. Pupils are described as feeling safe, and bullying is positioned as something that is reported and responded to quickly. Leaders are described as knowing local families well and using early help where needed, including working with external agencies and carrying out home visits if pupils stop attending. That is the operational end of pastoral care, and it is usually where families see whether a school is genuinely attentive.

The personal development judgement is the area to read carefully. The concern is not about whether the school talks about values. It is about whether pupils consistently practise them in corridors and social spaces, and whether staff responses are reliably aligned. That distinction is important when judging day-to-day culture.

The timetable makes space for enrichment, with a dedicated period scheduled at the end of each day across year groups. This is more than a convenience. When enrichment is built into the day rather than squeezed into optional margins, participation is usually broader, and pupils who rely on buses or family pickup do not automatically miss out.

The academy’s published enrichment materials name clubs that go beyond the generic list. Recent examples include a STEM Club, a Minecraft Club, a Drama Club, an LGBTQ+ Allies Club, plus sport-focused options such as rugby, netball, dance, and gym-based sessions. For pupils who need supervised time to complete online work, a Sparx homework club is also listed, which aligns with the school’s wider push on structured independent study.

Wider experiences are positioned as part of a trust-wide entitlement. The academy’s prospectus describes a fully funded residential at the trust’s Outdoor Education Centre at Patterdale on Ullswater in the Lake District National Park. That kind of residential matters most for pupils who might not otherwise access outdoor education, and it can also be a significant confidence-builder at the transition into secondary school life.

Finally, there is evidence of structured participation in recognised awards and academic outreach. The 2022 report references some pupils completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and the use of educational visits selected to deepen curriculum learning. The implication for families is that enrichment is being used in the way parents typically hope for, to broaden horizons while supporting academic engagement.

The academy day begins with an 8:20am arrival, with lessons starting at 8:25am. A whole-school mid-morning slot combines collective worship, form learning time, and break. An enrichment block runs later in the afternoon as part of the standard day.

For earlier arrival, the academy states that breakfast club operates from 8:10am and that students can access the Learning Resource Centre from the same time for printing or quiet reading and study. Lunch pricing is published at £2.55 for a school dinner.

Travel planning is a live consideration in this part of Doncaster. For pupils using dedicated school buses, Travel South Yorkshire lists a specific school service for Rossington All Saints Academy (service 492R), with operator information and downloadable timetables.

• Personal development consistency. The most recent inspection identified frequent use of derogatory and sexualised language, including homophobic language, and highlighted that staff responses were not always consistent. Families should ask how this is addressed day-to-day, and how pupils are taught to challenge it appropriately.

• No on-site sixth form. All pupils move on at 16, so a strong plan for post-16 options matters earlier than it would in a school with internal progression. The careers programme is a strength, but parents should still explore local sixth form and college routes during Year 10 and Year 11.

• Competition for places. Admissions data indicates oversubscription, with more applications than offers in the relevant cycle. It is sensible to use all available preferences strategically and to understand the local authority’s process and timelines.

• A longer day with enrichment built in. For many pupils this is a benefit, but it does require stamina and good routines, especially for those travelling by bus or balancing caring responsibilities at home.

Rossington All Saints Academy is a good-fit option for families seeking a mainstream, faith-informed secondary with a clearly structured day, deliberate investment in literacy and study habits, and unusually strong attention to careers and next steps. Academic outcomes are broadly in line with the middle of the England distribution, with slightly positive progress, so the decision is less about chasing a headline and more about whether the school’s routines, expectations, and enrichment-led model suit your child. It best suits pupils who respond well to structure, benefit from supported independent study, and are motivated by a mix of academic learning and practical experiences that build confidence for life after 16.