Sir William Robertson Academy, Welbourn Review 2026: Inclusive 11–18 provision with a broad curriculum and a growing sixth form

A rural secondary and sixth form serving Welbourn and surrounding villages, Sir William Robertson Academy combines comprehensive intake with a deliberate focus on consistency: consistent teaching routines, consistent expectations, and a curriculum designed to stay broad through Year 9 before options open up. The academy’s values are unusually explicit and practical, running from Involvement and Kindness through to Resilience and Achievement, with those themes used to frame behaviour and wider participation.

Leadership has recently changed. Mr Scott Barlow is the current headteacher, and took up the post in October 2025. The most recent external review took place in October 2024, when the school was still led by Mark Guest, so families should read inspection findings as a snapshot of systems and culture at that point, then test how priorities have evolved under the new head.

Academically, GCSE outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle range in England on the FindMySchool measures, while post-16 results are weaker on the same comparative lens. The school’s own narrative focuses on inclusion, reading and personal development as core priorities, alongside an offer that tries to keep academic and vocational routes open for students at 16.

The school’s published values are not generic slogans. They are listed in full as Involvement, Kindness, Responsibility, Creativity and Critical Thought, Resilience, and Achievement, and pupils are expected to understand and follow them. That clarity matters in a school serving a wide rural catchment, because shared language reduces friction. When expectations are consistent, students can spend less energy decoding different adult styles and more energy on learning and participation.

There is also an unusually direct emphasis on social inclusion. The school sets out an expectation that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities should engage fully with school life and access the same curriculum wherever possible, supported by swift identification of needs and clear communication to teachers. The implication for families is practical rather than ideological: if your child needs reasonable adjustments, you should expect the conversation to centre on access to the mainstream curriculum and on adaptations in classroom tasks, rather than withdrawal becoming the default.

The school presents itself as both inclusive and academically serious. It talks about vocabulary development, exposure to challenging but age-appropriate texts, and a well-resourced library positioned as central to learning. That combination, inclusion plus explicit literacy ambition, is often where rural schools can differentiate: strong literacy routines can narrow gaps that widen when transport times are long, homework time varies by household, and peer groups are spread across multiple villages.

House identity is a meaningful part of culture. The house names are chosen to represent a diverse set of inspirations, including Seacole House (Mary Seacole), Windrush House (the Windrush Generation), and Robertson House (Sir William Robertson). This is not just branding. It is a visible structure for belonging, recognition, and participation across year groups, which can be helpful in a larger secondary school where students can otherwise drift to the edges.

On history and identity, the school’s roots go back to 1961, with the academy status coming later, and it is named after Field Marshal Sir William Robertson, who was born in Welbourn. This kind of local connection tends to show up in family loyalty and in a sense of continuity, even as staffing and curriculum change. One notable former pupil often referenced in public sources is film and television director Farren Blackburn.

Leadership matters to culture, and there is a clear handover point. Mr Scott Barlow is the headteacher listed on Get Information About Schools, with an appointment date shown in October 2025. Families considering the school in 2026 should ask how the new head’s priorities show up in day-to-day routines, for example, in attendance drives, behaviour follow-through, curriculum sequencing, and support for sixth form outcomes.

This section uses FindMySchool rankings and the supplied performance dataset for consistency across schools.

At GCSE level, the school’s FindMySchool ranking is 1,970th in England for GCSE outcomes, and 3rd in the Lincoln area. This reflects solid performance, in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile), rather than either an elite outlier or a clear underperformer. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings based on official data.

The Attainment 8 score is 43.1. On a school-by-school basis, that tends to align with a broadly comprehensive profile: strong outcomes for a significant group of students, with a long tail where attainment is lower, often shaped by prior attainment, attendance, and the proportion of students taking academic pathways.

On measures connected to the English Baccalaureate, 22.6% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects, and the EBacc average point score is 3.87. For parents, the practical interpretation is that the school offers academic routes but does not appear to operate as an EBacc-heavy “all students on the academic track” institution. This can suit students who want breadth and choice, particularly if interests lean toward applied subjects or creative and technical options.

Progress 8 sits at -0.04, close to zero. That is often read as pupils making broadly expected progress compared with similar starting points, with the usual caveat that this single metric can move year to year and should be understood alongside attendance, curriculum choices, and cohort characteristics.

At A-level, FindMySchool ranks the school 1,784th in England and 8th in the Lincoln area for A-level outcomes. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings based on official data. This places sixth form outcomes below England average on the FindMySchool comparative lens, so families for whom post-16 results are the primary driver should look carefully at subject choices, class sizes, entry requirements, and the balance of academic and vocational routes.

The grade distribution in the supplied data shows 3.52% of entries at A*, 14.08% at A, and 36.62% at A* to B combined. That profile suggests a sixth form where strong outcomes exist, but the top end is smaller than in high-performing academic sixth forms, and where course mix and prior attainment are likely to play a large role in results.

The curriculum is described as ambitious and wide, with breadth maintained through Key Stage 3, then choice introduced from the end of Year 9. That structure has an important implication: students who thrive here are often those who benefit from time to mature academically before selecting pathways, rather than those who want early specialisation.

A clear strength is the school’s stated commitment to consistency in teaching. The approach described in formal external review materials centres on careful explanations followed by opportunities to practise and apply knowledge, with tasks selected to revisit and embed important ideas. In practice, this kind of routine tends to benefit middle attainers and students who struggle with executive function, because the lesson structure itself provides a scaffold. It also tends to reduce behaviour issues, as students know what is coming next.

Reading is treated as a whole-school priority. The focus is not simply “encouraging reading for pleasure”, although that matters, but targeted support for weaker readers with a phonics programme and expert delivery so that students can access the full curriculum. This is a sensible strategy in a secondary school: improvements in reading accuracy and fluency have knock-on effects across science, humanities, and mathematics, where exam performance often turns on comprehension rather than on subject knowledge alone.

At Key Stage 4, the school points to modern foreign languages and triple science as part of the offer for many pupils, alongside other options. For families with academically inclined children, this signals that the school can build an academic route without it being compulsory for everyone. For other families, the important point is that a broad options structure can be a good fit if motivation is stronger when subjects feel chosen rather than imposed.

In music, students can study a vocationally oriented route at Key Stage 4, specifically a BTEC Tech Award in Music Practice, with access to practice rooms and opportunities such as choir and band rehearsals alongside school productions. This sort of offer tends to work best where the school treats performance and production as serious disciplines, not as add-ons. For students who learn best through practical work and feedback loops, it can be a strong engagement driver that also supports attendance.

Post-16, the published curriculum materials include both academic and vocational options. One example is a BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Medical Science, described as equivalent in size to one A-level and intended to support progression into health-related higher education and employment. This matters because it shows the school is not positioning sixth form as “A-levels only”. The fit question is whether your child is likely to do better with a mixed programme and applied assessment, or whether they need a more traditional, heavily academic environment.

The school’s published destination narrative is mostly qualitative rather than statistical. It lists universities that students have progressed to, including Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College London, Birmingham, Sheffield, York and Lincoln. These are examples, not counts, but they indicate that high-attaining progression exists in the cohort.

For more structured leaver destination measures, the supplied dataset for the 2023/24 cohort (64 leavers) shows 42% progressing to university, 13% starting apprenticeships, and 38% entering employment. This mix suggests the sixth form and wider post-16 planning are supporting multiple pathways rather than funnelling students into a single “university only” narrative. For families, the practical implication is that careers education and employer engagement should matter as much as UCAS support.

On Oxbridge specifically, the most recently reported measurement period shows two applications to Oxford and Cambridge combined and one acceptance. In a school of this type, a small Oxbridge number is not unusual. What matters is whether high-attaining students are encouraged to apply, supported through admissions tests and interview preparation, and also guided toward strong alternatives such as medicine, high-demand STEM courses, and competitive apprenticeships.

There is evidence of structured careers programming at Key Stage 5, including UCAS fairs, higher education workshops, and an Oxbridge conference, plus a broad list of provider encounters ranging from universities to employers and services. The implication is that students are likely to hear about routes beyond the familiar, including technical education and apprenticeships, which can be particularly valuable in a rural setting where informal networks may be narrower.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Admissions to Year 7 are coordinated by Lincolnshire County Council rather than handled directly by the school. For September 2026 entry, Lincolnshire’s secondary admissions window opened on 8 September 2025 and closed on 31 October 2025, with a final late-application deadline in December 2025. National Offer Day for secondary places is 2 March 2026. These dates matter because missing the main deadline can materially reduce choice, particularly where transport and sibling logistics are involved.

The school indicates it typically runs two Open Evenings each year, one in the summer term and one in September, plus Open Mornings during a September Open Week. It also ran a Year 7 Open Morning in January 2026, which suggests an additional mid-year opportunity for families who decide later in the cycle. As timings can change year to year, treat this as a pattern rather than a promise, and check the school’s event listings before making travel plans.

If you are thinking about a move into the area, admissions are also a planning exercise. Rural catchments and transport eligibility can make “close enough” feel different from in a city. Parents comparing options often benefit from using FindMySchool’s Map Search to sanity-check travel times and practical daily logistics alongside academic information.

For sixth form, the application route is direct to the school rather than via coordinated admissions. The school’s published guidance states that applicants are offered an informal interview in January and February 2026 to discuss subject choices and career aspirations, with conditional offers issued later in February. The school’s home page also publicised a December application deadline for September 2026 entry. The key question for families is not only the deadline, but whether subject combinations are viable on the timetable and what minimum entry requirements apply for specific courses.

The school’s approach to wellbeing is framed as part of wider personal development rather than as a bolt-on. In external review material, pupils are described as friendly and welcoming, with calm and purposeful behaviour in lessons, and with clear routes for reporting concerns. That matters because, for many families, wellbeing is less about posters and assemblies and more about whether staff follow through consistently when issues arise.

Personal, social, health and economic education is described as comprehensive and well planned, including in the sixth form, with explicit coverage of healthy relationships and online safety. In rural schools, online life can be a larger proportion of social life, so a structured approach to digital safety is a practical strength, not a tick-box.

Inclusion is a recurring theme across safeguarding, SEND, and behaviour. A school can only be genuinely inclusive if teachers have usable information about pupils’ needs and the confidence to adapt tasks without lowering ambition. The published narrative emphasises prompt identification and clear communication to staff, which is a sensible model. Families of children with additional needs should still ask for specifics, for example, how reading interventions are delivered, how homework is adapted, and how transitions are handled at Key Stage 4 and into sixth form.

The extracurricular offer is notably structured and practical, with a heavy lunchtime component and additional after-school sessions, which can suit rural transport realities where late buses are not always available from every village. Pupils are described as valuing the range of clubs, and the school’s published club timetables show a mix of academic extension, wellbeing, sport, and creative opportunities.

A strong example of “academic plus practical” is Lego Robotics Club, running across Year 7 through Year 13. This is the kind of club that does more than occupy lunchtime. It can build problem-solving, teamwork, iteration, and confidence with engineering-style thinking, all of which translate into GCSE and A-level science and maths, and into apprenticeships in technical fields. The presence of related activities such as Quadcopter and an F1 in Schools programme reinforces the sense that STEM is being supported through real projects rather than only through classroom study.

Reading culture is also supported outside lessons. The clubs timetable includes Book Club, a Year 9 Book Club, and a National Teen Book Club. These are deceptively important in a secondary context. Regular reading communities can support vocabulary growth and confidence, and they can provide a quieter social space for students who find large-group sport less appealing.

Sport is present in a familiar way, but with some practical signals about facilities. A 3G pitch is available and the timetable includes lunch clubs and after-school sessions across football and other activities. The school day routine explicitly references assembling on tennis courts at the end of the day, which is a small detail but tells you there is dedicated outdoor court space in regular use. For families, the implication is straightforward: there are facilities to support participation, not just fixtures, and that can matter for students whose wellbeing improves with routine physical activity.

Performing arts also appear as a recurring thread. The extracurricular list includes school production rehearsals and Key Stage 3 show rehearsals, alongside music clubs such as choir and band. For students who are more motivated by performance deadlines and team creativity than by exams, these activities can be the hook that keeps engagement high during demanding GCSE years.

Wider participation includes the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, which is specifically referenced as valued by many pupils, and supported through timetabled sessions. This can be a good fit for students who benefit from structured responsibility and goal-setting, and it can also strengthen post-16 applications, including for apprenticeships where evidence of reliability matters.

The published school day starts with a Base period from 8:45am, followed by five main periods, and finishes at 3:10pm, with a short end-of-day assembly routine immediately afterwards. The gates open at 8:20am and students are advised not to arrive before that time. For families juggling rural travel, those timings are important because they shape bus availability and the feasibility of breakfast supervision.

Transport support is described as being provided via Lincolnshire County Council for pupils within the catchment, with additional arrangements possible for pupils outside the catchment subject to availability. In practice, this is an area where families should do due diligence early, because transport feasibility can determine whether sixth form is realistic if a student wants to stay for Year 12 and Year 13.

The school works with Lincolnshire Music Service to provide private instrumental lessons. As with most state schools, families should expect additional costs for items such as uniform, optional trips and visits, and peripatetic music tuition, and should ask for a clear outline during the admissions process so there are no surprises.

• Sixth form outcomes lag the GCSE picture. On the FindMySchool A-level ranking, the school sits below England average. For some students, a mixed academic and vocational offer will be the right solution; for others, a more strongly academic sixth form may be preferable.

• Leadership transition. The most recent inspection took place under the previous headteacher, while the current headteacher took up post in October 2025. Families should ask what has changed, what has stayed the same, and how improvement priorities are being measured.

• Rural logistics shape daily life. Clubs run heavily at lunchtime, which can suit transport patterns, but after-school participation may depend on bus routes and family pickup capacity. Check the practicalities alongside the brochure.

• Assessment consistency is an identified improvement area. The school’s next step is to ensure assessment is used consistently to identify gaps and misconceptions before moving students on. For parents, the question is how this shows up in homework feedback, retrieval practice, and intervention for students who are falling behind.

Sir William Robertson Academy is an inclusive rural 11 to 18 school with a clear values framework, calm routines, and a curriculum designed to keep options open through Year 9. GCSE performance is broadly mid-pack in England on the FindMySchool measures, while sixth form outcomes are weaker, so post-16 fit deserves careful scrutiny. Best suited to families who want a comprehensive school culture with explicit expectations, strong reading priorities, and a mix of academic, practical and enrichment pathways, including Duke of Edinburgh and a credible STEM club offer.

The latest Ofsted inspection (15 to 16 October 2024, published 21 November 2024) concluded that the school had taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection. The report also confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.