Archbishop Sentamu Academy Review 2026: A Church of England secondary in transition, now operating as Liberty Academy

A school can feel like it is doing two jobs at once, holding firm on routines that keep classrooms calm, while rebuilding trust in outcomes, attendance, and behaviour outside lessons. Archbishop Sentamu Academy, which now operates as Liberty Academy within Heartwood Learning Trust, sits clearly in that phase. Louise Beasley is the Principal, supported by an executive principal structure and a wider trust team.

The official picture is mixed but improving. The most recent graded inspection in April 2024 judged the school Requires Improvement overall, with sixth form provision graded Good, and confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective. A subsequent monitoring visit in April 2025 reported progress, alongside further work needed, especially around consistency of teaching and learning, attendance, and staff wellbeing.

For families, the decision tends to come down to fit and momentum. If your child benefits from clear structure, strong routines, and adults actively resetting expectations, there is evidence of a school improving. If you need a consistently strong academic track record right now, the published performance measures still sit well below typical levels in England, so it is important to ask direct questions about what has changed in the last 12 to 18 months.

The strongest recent description of day to day experience centres on classroom tone. Lessons are described as routinely calm, with positive relationships between pupils and staff. The challenge appears at social times, where expectations are not yet as consistently followed as they are in lessons, and punctuality between sessions remains an improvement focus.

The school’s Church of England character is not just a label. Its published aims and values place Christian ethos at the centre, and the academy’s chaplaincy is unusually prominent for a large secondary. Chaplaincy is led by Revd Canon Anne Richards, and the school describes this role as combining collective worship leadership with pastoral care, including specific support around bereavement. Prayer Spaces in the Chapel are part of how values are explored in practice.

A distinct cultural marker for 2025 to 2026 is the school’s decision to go phone free using the Yondr programme. The policy is designed to keep devices locked away during the school day, with unlocking points at the end of the day. It also includes a £15 replacement fee if a pouch is repeatedly forgotten and treated as lost. For some families, this will feel like a serious signal about focus and social dynamics; for others it will raise practical questions about after school coordination.

Finally, there is clear emphasis on student voice and leadership structures, including student council and wider student groups referenced in official reporting. The practical implication is that pupils who respond well to structured leadership opportunities, clear routines, and high adult visibility may settle more quickly than those who need a looser environment.

The published GCSE outcomes place the school towards the lower end of the England distribution in the FindMySchool rankings, based on official performance data. Ranked 3690th in England and 17th in Hull for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking), the overall picture is one of outcomes that are currently weak compared with many local alternatives.

A few measures give a sharper sense of what that means in practice. Attainment 8 is 31.8, and Progress 8 is -1.18, indicating that, on average, pupils have made substantially less progress than pupils with similar starting points across England. EBacc performance is also low on the published measure, with 4.5% achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc set.

That headline needs context. Official reporting also describes an improving curriculum, a more consistent approach to teaching (including modelling strategies across subjects), and targeted work for early readers, with leaders identifying and supporting pupils who need help with reading as they enter the school. The implication is that the improvement plan is focused on core access to learning rather than superficial changes, which is typically what drives sustained gains over time.

If you are comparing schools in Hull, FindMySchool’s Local Hub and Comparison Tool can help you place these figures alongside nearby options, including other schools with similar intakes, so you can judge relative progress rather than relying on reputation.

The curriculum model is clearly explained. Key Stage 3 runs as a three year programme, and teaching is organised around 60 minute lessons within a two week cycle. At Key Stage 4, the school runs a two year model starting in Year 10, and pupils choose three option subjects, with a stated expectation that at least one option is drawn from History, Geography, French, or Chinese.

There is a strong literacy strand for a secondary setting serving a wide range of starting points. The published approach includes baseline testing on entry and a structured phonics intervention for pupils below a specified threshold, followed by reading fluency support. This matters because it is one of the clearest links between a whole school strategy and day to day classroom access, particularly for pupils who arrive with weaker reading.

The school also runs sports scholarship programming, described as replacing core PE with scholarship sessions for selected participants. Current strands include a Rugby Scholarship for boys, a Football Scholarship for boys, and a girls’ multi sport programme, with named coaching staff and an emphasis on behaviour and attitude as conditions of remaining on the programme. For the right pupil, this can be a powerful engagement lever; for others, it is simply part of a broader enrichment menu.

A consistent theme across official reporting is the need to build pupils’ independence, including recall and application of learning without scaffolding. When you visit, it is worth asking what this looks like in each year group, for example how homework, retrieval practice, and revision are being standardised across departments.

Families should be aware that the school’s post 16 position appears to have changed recently. A monitoring letter in June 2025 stated that the school had decided to close its sixth form provision at the end of the academic year once students completed their qualifications, and official records indicate that the school does not have a sixth form.

For destination outcomes, the most recent published leaver destinations dataset available here is for the 2023 to 2024 cohort. In that cohort, 25% progressed to university, 6% started apprenticeships, 31% entered employment, and 1% progressed to further education.

The implication is that, for many students, the transition focus is on practical next steps as much as academic progression. The school’s careers programme frames this explicitly as preparation for adulthood and post 16 transition, so families with students who benefit from guided decision making, employer exposure, and clear pathways may find this element aligns well with their needs.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through Hull City Council, and the school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) is 300 for Year 7. For September 2026 entry, the published closing date for secondary applications is 31 October 2025, with offers made on 01 March 2026.

Oversubscription criteria are detailed and include some distinctive elements. After children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, the criteria include priority for pupils from two named Church of England primaries within Heartwood Learning Trust, then a sporting aptitude route capped at up to 10% of intake, followed by distance based zones, siblings, and then wider distance. Tie breaks can include random allocation if distance does not separate applicants.

For families considering the school on the basis of proximity, it is worth using FindMySchoolMap Search to measure your home to school distance precisely and to understand how the school’s distance criteria are applied in practice, including how any zone maps operate.

The school states it welcomes visits by appointment through the admissions process, and it also notes that information about open evenings is typically published by September for the following year’s entry cycle.

Pastoral support is structured and named on the school’s own staffing information. This includes a Designated Safeguarding Lead, SENDCo, chaplaincy provision, and a house system with named Heads of House, which suggests a deliberate attempt to build smaller communities within a large school.

Chaplaincy is a significant part of wellbeing infrastructure here, including trauma practitioner qualification and stated focus on bereavement, plus a confidential listening role for staff and parents as well as pupils. The availability of a chapel and chaplaincy office as spaces for reflection, prayer, and lunchtime activities also gives the school a distinct pastoral identity compared with many community secondaries.

The monitoring inspection letter also highlights staff wellbeing as an improvement priority, with leaders asked to build on initial actions so staff feel supported to deliver high quality provision. For parents, this is worth probing in a visit, because staff stability and morale are often the hidden drivers of consistent classroom experience.

Enrichment is positioned as a core lever for engagement and belonging, with the school grouping its offer into strands such as community and leadership, cultural experiences, enterprise, heritage, wellbeing, and world. Specific examples include work with Hull Minster, court visits, youth enterprise style activity, and overseas or wider world experiences.

The named club and activity list is unusually concrete for a school website. Beyond the expected football, rugby and netball, the offer includes STEM Club, Car Club, Humanities Club, Further Maths Club, Liberty Life Club, and Reflection Spaces, as well as Duke of Edinburgh. That breadth matters because it gives different kinds of pupils an entry point, whether their confidence is built through sport, a subject identity, or quieter structured spaces.

Breakfast Club operates from 8am and is linked to the National School Breakfast Programme, delivered by Family Action and Magic Breakfast. For families managing mornings, this is practical support as much as enrichment, especially if punctuality is a concern.

A final strand is culture shaping through policy. The move to a phone free school day using Yondr is likely to influence social time behaviour, corridor dynamics, and classroom focus, which makes it one of the most meaningful day to day changes families should understand before entry.

The school day runs from registration at 08:45 to 09:10, with five teaching periods and the end of the day at 15:15. The published weekly total is 32 hours 30 minutes. Breakfast Club opens at 8am.

Admissions are managed through the local authority for Year 7 entry, with published deadlines and offer dates set out in the admissions policy. The site does not publish a dedicated transport guide on the pages reviewed, so families should plan routes early and consider seasonal travel, particularly for pupils expected to arrive on time for an 08:45 registration.

• Academic outcomes are still low. The published GCSE performance measures and FindMySchool ranking place the school towards the lower end of the England distribution. Families should ask for the school’s current improvement priorities and how progress is being tracked term by term.

• Behaviour outside lessons remains a work in progress. Classroom calm is a strength, but the school is still working to align behaviour and punctuality at unstructured times with the standards expected in lessons.

• Post 16 plans have shifted. Official information indicates that sixth form provision has been closing, so families should confirm the current pathway options after Year 11 and the support available for college, training, and apprenticeships.

• The phone free policy will not suit everyone. Some pupils will benefit from reduced distraction; others may find the adjustment challenging. It is worth discussing how exceptions are handled for medical needs and what the daily routine looks like.

Archbishop Sentamu Academy, now operating as Liberty Academy, is a large Church of England secondary that is clearly in an improvement phase, with evidence of calmer lessons, a more coherent curriculum model, and stronger structures around literacy and enrichment. The main challenge is that outcomes are still weak on published measures, and consistency outside lessons remains a priority.

Best suited to families who value clear routines, visible pastoral structures including chaplaincy, and an improving culture, and who are prepared to engage closely with the school’s improvement journey rather than expecting a fully established track record.