Last reviewed: September 2026 · Rankings and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
A school in the middle of rebuilding itself, in bricks and in reputation. Wellfield Academy is an 11 to 16 comprehensive in Farington, on the edge of Leyland in Lancashire, and its motto, "Nothing but the Best", is repeated everywhere from the headteacher's welcome to the student leadership team's letter to new Year 7s. It opened in its present form on 1 December 2023, the same day it formally joined Endeavour Learning Trust, and it is now part of the Department for Education’s School Rebuilding Programme that will replace most of its buildings.
The new executive headteacher, Scott Parker, took over in September 2026. He inherits a school with just over 500 students on a site built for 834, rising demand from local families, and GCSE results that still sit in the lower half of schools in England. It is mixed, non-selective and has no sixth form. It has not yet been inspected by Ofsted in its current form.
Leyland is the point of reference here. The admissions page describes the site as spacious and only a few minutes' walk from the town centre, and the new Executive Headteacher writes about the school's place in the Leyland community as something he intends to build on rather than change. His welcome letter talks less about grades than about belonging: children known as individuals, staff who care, and families who feel Wellfield is their school.
Culture is codified in The Wellfield Standard, a daily commitment that students make and that sets out how everyone should act, learn and treat each other. It rests on three core values: inclusive, aspirational and community-centred. The school describes its approach as warm-strict, meaning high challenge paired with high support, and the Standard is backed by a Student and Parent School Culture Handbook for 2025-2026. For families, that means expectations are written down, which makes it easier to know where the lines sit on uniform, behaviour and attitude to learning.
Uniform expectations are firm. Years 7 to 9 must wear a black blazer with the school badge; Years 10 and 11 must wear the grey V-necked jumper. Shirts are top-buttoned and tucked in, one small stud earring is the only piercing allowed, and smart watches are banned during the school day. Prefects wear a red tie, which makes them easy for new Year 7s to find.
The school has a story of growth. Wellfield worked with Endeavour as a partner school from September 2017 before the Department for Education approved its formal transfer, and the school reported in 2023 that an additional 100 students per year had joined over the previous two years. The current headteacher describes significantly more families now choosing Wellfield as their first-choice secondary. The intake is not affluent: 37.9% of students are eligible for free school meals, which shapes both the school's priorities and how its results should be read.
GCSE outcomes are the weakest part of the picture, and parents should look at them directly.
In FindMySchool's proprietary rankings, built from official data, Wellfield Academy is ranked 2,813th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results (top 72.2%), ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent. That places it in the lower half of schools in England on results alone.
The detail explains why. The average Attainment 8 score was 36.5, based on a cohort of 68 students at the end of Key Stage 4. Progress 8 was -0.70. Because 0 represents the England average, a score of -0.70 means students made considerably less progress from their starting points than similar students elsewhere, equivalent to around 0.7 of a grade lower in each of the subjects counted. That is the figure the new leadership will be judged against.
EBacc outcomes were modest too. Only 4.4% of students achieved grade 5 or above across the full English Baccalaureate, and the average EBacc point score was 3.0. Part of that reflects the options design: students choose at least one of Geography, History or Spanish, then up to two further GCSE options from a wider list.
Context matters when reading these numbers. A cohort of 68 is small, so a handful of students can move the averages noticeably, and the year group that sat these exams was well below the size of the Year 7 intake the school now admits. Families should ask the school directly for its most recent GCSE outcomes and how current Year 10 and 11 students are tracking. The trend in demand suggests local confidence is rising; the results have not yet shown the same movement.
England ranks and key metrics (where available)
GCSE
2813th
England rank
Ranking figures update automatically as our data refreshes and are the definitive source. Any rankings quoted in the review text were accurate when it was written and may since have changed.
Lessons follow a shared Four-Part Lesson Plan across every subject: Connect (linking new work to prior knowledge), Activate (skills practice using I do, We do, You do modelling), Demonstrate (students working independently with support removed) and Consolidate (reviewing learning and next steps). A common structure like this is useful for students who find secondary school disorientating, because every lesson follows the same rhythm whatever the subject.
Retrieval practice is built into lessons, and the school's inclusive curriculum statement says subjects are sequenced and scaffolded with SEND students in mind so that additional needs do not become a barrier to the same end goals as everyone else. Homework follows the same logic. It falls into three types, Reading, Recall or Revision, set weekly or fortnightly rather than to a rigid timetable, with the school stating that it prefers quality over quantity. There is deliberately no big jump in homework volume at Key Stage 4; instead it becomes more focused on GCSE preparation.
At Key Stage 3, students in Years 7 and 8 study English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Religious Studies, Spanish, Computing, Art, Drama, Music, Technology and PE in mixed-ability classes. A smaller group follows the same curriculum with extra support aimed at literacy and learner confidence, which is a practical help for students who need to build reading and learning confidence. In Year 9, Drama, Food Technology and Design Technology run as a carousel.
At Key Stage 4, everyone takes English Language and Literature, Maths and Science, and some take separate Biology, Chemistry and Physics within core time. Options include Art & Design, Computer Science, Design Technology, Drama, Food Preparation & Nutrition, Music, Religious Studies and a Cambridge National in Sports Studies. Exam boards are named on subject pages: OCR for Computer Science and Art, AQA for Drama and Food Preparation and Nutrition, and Eduqas for GCSE Music. The curriculum is overseen by Mr Beattie, Deputy Headteacher for Quality of Education, and there are published Most Able guidelines aimed at stretching higher attainers through challenge in lessons and extra-curricular activity.
With no sixth form, every student moves on at 16, so careers guidance carries real weight. Wellfield's Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme is built around the eight Gatsby Benchmarks, and the school states that it meets them in every area. It is led by Mrs L Park, Assistant Head Teacher, alongside Miss A Scott, Personal Development Curriculum and Aspirations Lead.
Careers content is taught explicitly through PSHCE in every year group. Year 7 covers ambition, online reputation and study skills; Year 8 moves to pathways, goal setting and exploring post-16; Year 9 deals with money matters and employment rights; Year 10 covers financial responsibility and workplace rules; and Year 11 turns to the practical business of personal statements, CVs, interview skills and applying for college. That sequence means students are not first asked to think about post-16 in the spring of Year 11.
Every Year 11 student has at least one careers appointment with a qualified adviser. From November of Year 11, students complete a survey of their intended destinations, applications, interviews and offers, which lets staff spot anyone without a plan. Extra support is targeted at students with SEND, looked-after children, young carers, those with English as an additional language and students showing two or more risk indicators of becoming NEET.
Post-16 guidance covers all three routes: full-time education (A Levels, T Levels or vocational qualifications), an apprenticeship, or work or volunteering alongside part-time study. The school states that it complies with the Baker Clause, so colleges and training providers get access to students to explain technical and non-academic routes. For families, the practical implication is that choosing a sixth form or college is part of the Year 11 conversation from the start.
Endeavour Learning Trust is the admissions authority, but applications for Year 7 go through Lancashire County Council's coordinated scheme. For September 2027 entry the published admission number is 166, the closing date is 31 October 2026 and offers are issued on 1 March 2027. Applications arriving after 31 October but before the start of the autumn term count as late and are considered only after all on-time applications.
Demand has outstripped places. In 2025 the school received 246 applications for 127 offers, around 1.9 applications for every place offered, and it was oversubscribed. That is a notable shift for a school that was operating well below its 834 capacity, and it matches the headteacher's description of growing first-choice demand.
When oversubscribed, after students with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the academy, places go in this order:
Within each band, straight-line distance from home to the main school office decides priority. Twins and triplets are admitted together even if that means going over the admission number. A waiting list is kept, in criteria order, until 31 December of the new school year.
In-year transfers are handled by the school itself using its own form, and the trust also considers requests for admission outside the normal age group. Appeals are administered by Lancashire County Council. Open Evenings take place every September, with details published before the summer break, and families who cannot attend can ask the school office to arrange a tour on another day.
Applications
246
Total received
Places Offered
127
Subscription Rate
1.9x
Applications per place
Pastoral structure is layered. Every student has a Personal Tutor, tutors are led by a Head of Key Stage, and each year group has a dedicated Head of Year who is a non-teaching member of staff focused on pastoral support and wellbeing. Having a Head of Year who is not also teaching a full timetable matters, because that person is more likely to be available when a problem arises during the day.
Safety and kindness each have their own campaign. Safe Spaces, Strong Voices focuses on giving students trusted adults, clear ways to report concerns and designated safe spaces in school where they can go for support. The Be Kind campaign teaches kindness as a practical habit, with the school linking it directly to reducing conflict, bullying and exclusion. Behaviour sits within the warm-strict framework of The Wellfield Standard.
Inclusion is led by Assistant Headteacher Gill Butterworth, a qualified SENCO who is also Designated Teacher for children in care and oversees provision for students with medical needs. Every member of staff keeps an Inclusion folder so that they know individual students' needs. The Learning Support department runs a quiet break and lunchtime club, sensory time during breaks, a specialist teacher lunch club on Wednesdays, booked sensory sessions, exit pass support and specialist teacher support for students with EHCPs. Named interventions include Fresh Start Phonics, Reading Plus, Doodle learning for maths, times tables, spelling and English, Autism Identity and Me, an ADHD intervention group, News Hackers and Lego Therapy.
The academy also has an SEN unit, with 11 students on roll against a capacity of 20, and a provision called Endeavour Thrive. For families of children with SEND, that combination of a specialist unit and named mainstream interventions is a genuine reason to visit.
Support does not end at the gate. Endeavour Open Door offers any former student or family, whatever the reason they left the roll, help with education, wellbeing or family circumstances, with requests handled by the trust's central team.
Drama and performance. The school theatre was renamed The Bev Yates Theatre in November 2022, in tribute to a much-loved former colleague who provided pastoral care and had a love of drama and performance. Drama is led by Mrs Middlehurst and covers improvisation, mime, physical theatre, play texts and Shakespeare at Key Stage 3, with students also working on lighting, costume, sound, set and props. The AQA GCSE includes students performing two contrasting scenes to a visiting examiner. For a student who wants a stage, that is a real, named space in which to learn.
Sport. Physical education is taught from a specialist building with a sports hall and dance studio. The sports hall measures 32m by 18m, and the grounds include an 11-a-side and a 9-a-side grass pitch. Students in Years 7 to 9 have three hours of PE per fortnight covering competitive sports and non-competitive activities; Years 10 and 11 have two hours of core PE, and those taking the Cambridge National in Sports Studies add six hours per fortnight exploring sport and the media, contemporary issues and leadership. The department is led by Miss Bellemey. Outside school hours, local football, netball, badminton and cricket clubs, plus a remote control car club, hire the facilities, so the site is busy with community sport through the week.
Music. Music is based in the Buttermere Building, which has a teaching classroom and two fully equipped practice rooms. It is taught weekly in Years 7 to 9 by Subject Leader Mr King, the curriculum includes the chance to learn an instrument, and GCSE Music (Eduqas) is available at Key Stage 4.
Art, technology and computing. The Coniston Building houses the Art department, led by Miss McHugh, the Design Technology workshop and a computer suite with 26 PCs where Computer Science students learn to programme in Python. Food Preparation and Nutrition runs from a food preparation kitchen in the Ambleside Building, with the AQA course including a Food Investigation Task and a Food Preparation Task.
Leadership and personal development. Students in Years 10 and 11 can apply for the Junior Leadership Team, which includes Head Students, Deputy Head Students and Senior Prefects who work closely with senior leaders. Everyone has one timetabled PSHCE lesson a week, and the personal development programme brings in workshops and lectures from visiting performance groups and speakers.
The rebuild. Work has started on the redevelopment, delivered by the Department for Education with Kier Construction as design-and-build contractor. Most existing buildings are in poor condition and earmarked for demolition, to be replaced by two new buildings of three and two storeys. The GenZero building announced in 2023, designed to be net zero in construction and operation, will include a performance arts centre, a new library and dining hall, updated IT suites and a multifunctional school hall and drama studio for community use. The sports hall block and outdoor courts stay as they are.
The school day runs from 8.40am to 3.10pm, 32.5 hours a week, with Personal Tutor Time each morning and after lunch, and five lessons a day. Breakfast Club runs from 8.15am to 8.40am in the canteen; other students may not arrive on site before 8.25am. Hot and cold lunches are sold in the cafeteria, packed lunches are allowed, and students may not leave the premises at lunchtime. Payments for meals, trips and equipment go through the Arbor parent app, which runs a cashless catering system with fingerprint recognition.
The admissions page describes Wellfield as accessible by transport networks from Clayton Brook, Clayton-le-Woods, Whittle-le-Woods, Croston, Buckshaw, Eccleston, Chorley, Euxton and Farington. The rebuild includes a larger cycle shelter. Uniform can be bought from Impressions Leyland, from the school, or in part from supermarkets. As a state school, there are no tuition fees.
GCSE results are the main concern. A Progress 8 score of -0.70 and a position of 2,813th of 3,895 in England put Wellfield in the lower half of schools on results. Families should ask how current Year 10 and 11 students are progressing and what has changed since those exams.
There is no inspection of the current school yet. Wellfield Academy has not been inspected by Ofsted since it opened on 1 December 2023. Before this school opened, the predecessor school (URN 119723) was judged Requires Improvement by Ofsted in November 2021. Parents currently have no independent judgement of the school as it now stands, so visiting and asking direct questions matters more than usual.
Several years of building work lie ahead. Most existing buildings will be demolished and replaced, with new buildings going up partly on the current sports field. Work has already started, so students will be learning alongside a construction project, and part of the existing field is being built on.
Entry is no longer a formality. With 246 applications for 127 offers in 2025, the school was oversubscribed, and the final tie-breaker is straight-line distance. Families living further out should not assume a place and should use all their Lancashire preferences carefully.
Wellfield Academy is a school clearly on the way up in popularity, with firm expectations, careful structures for vulnerable students and a rebuilding programme to replace buildings that are mostly in poor condition. The Wellfield Standard, a non-teaching Head of Year in every year group, an SEN unit and a long list of named interventions give it real substance on the pastoral and inclusion side. What it does not yet have is the GCSE record to match: a Progress 8 score of -0.70 shows students making much less progress than similar students elsewhere, and there is no Ofsted inspection of the current school to point to.
It is best suited to local Leyland and Farington families who value a warm-strict, inclusive comprehensive, particularly those whose children need structured support or SEND provision, and who are comfortable backing a school in transition. The main caveat is academic: families looking for a proven results record should ask hard questions about current progress under Scott Parker's leadership.
It has clear strengths in pastoral care and inclusion, with The Wellfield Standard setting daily expectations, a non-teaching Head of Year for each year group and an SEN unit. GCSE results are weaker: it ranks 2,813th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results, with a Progress 8 score of -0.70. The school opened in December 2023 and has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.
Yes. In 2025 it received 246 applications for 127 offers, around 1.9 applications per place. For 2027 entry the admission number is 166, and distance from home decides priority within each admissions criterion.
Below average. The average Attainment 8 score was 36.5 and Progress 8 was -0.70, meaning students made less progress than similar students across England. Just 4.4% achieved grade 5 or above across the full EBacc.
Behaviour is set out in The Wellfield Standard, a warm-strict framework built on being inclusive, aspirational and community-centred. The Safe Spaces, Strong Voices campaign gives students trusted adults and safe spaces to report concerns, and the Be Kind campaign targets bullying and exclusion directly.
Places are allocated using the published oversubscription criteria. After EHCPs, looked-after children, exceptional needs and siblings, straight-line distance from home to the main school office is the tie-breaker. Applications go through Lancashire County Council by 31 October 2026 for September 2027 entry.
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