The Brunts Academy Review 2026, a large Mansfield secondary with a sixth form on an improvement journey

A school with deep local roots and a very current challenge, turning recent structural change into consistently strong day-to-day learning. The Brunts Academy sits in Mansfield Woodhouse, serving students aged 11 to 18, and is part of Greenwood Academies Trust. Its leadership structure is slightly unusual at first glance, with an Executive Principal, Chris Fisher, and a Principal, Rachel Sutcliffe, reflecting the wider trust model.

The headline story is movement. The September 2023 Ofsted inspection rated the school Requires Improvement overall, with sixth form provision judged Good, and safeguarding judged effective. That matters because the previous inspection in November 2022 rated the school Inadequate and found safeguarding was not effective at that point.

For families, this positions Brunts as a school where routines, expectations, and culture have been actively reset, but where consistency, behaviour management, and confidence in reporting concerns still require ongoing work to feel fully embedded.

The tone Brunts sets is explicit. Its four-part value language, Be Proud, Be Respectful, Be Resilient, Be Ambitious, appears repeatedly in school communications and functions as a shared shorthand for conduct and daily standards. This clarity is a practical strength for a large secondary, because staff and students need a common vocabulary that works in classrooms, corridors, and social spaces.

The most recent formal picture of atmosphere is mixed but improving. Students describe feeling safe and report that bullying is no longer a major concern, and the school is described as typically calm, with staff expectations that most pupils meet. At the same time, there is still disruption to learning in some lessons, and students’ experience of behaviour management can depend on whether classroom routines are applied consistently by all staff.

The area where culture becomes most visible is trust in systems. The 2023 inspection indicates that some students are still reluctant to raise issues such as inappropriate comments or disrespect, because they are not fully confident action will always follow quickly and consistently. The school has introduced reporting systems to address this, but the key point for parents is practical rather than philosophical, ask how concerns are logged, triaged, and closed out, and what feedback loop exists for the student and the family.

There is also a strong sixth-form identity. Sixth form students study a mix of academic and vocational programmes and value the advice and support they receive for next steps. Volunteering roles such as reading buddies and sports leaders are built into the sixth-form experience, which helps create a visible “older student” culture that is about responsibility rather than status.

Performance needs to be read in two layers, attainment and trajectory.

At GCSE, the school’s most recent dataset picture indicates Attainment 8 of 41.4 and Progress 8 of -0.41. EBacc average point score is 3.39, and 5.3% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across the EBacc suite. In the FindMySchool GCSE rankings based on official outcomes data, the school is ranked 3,036th in England and 5th in Mansfield, a position that places it below England average overall, within the lower 40% of schools in England.

That ranking context is important because it sets realistic expectations. Brunts is not currently in the “results-led destination” category that some families target when they are optimising purely for academic outcomes. It is, instead, a school that needs to be evaluated on whether its improving classroom conditions are now strong enough for your child to learn well day to day.

At A level, the picture is closer to typical for England, which aligns with the sixth-form grading in inspection. A* was 7.76%, A was 8.62%, B was 25.0%, and A* to B was 41.38%. The England averages used for context are 23.6% for A* to A and 47.2% for A* to B. In FindMySchool’s A-level rankings, the sixth form is ranked 1,475th in England and 4th in Mansfield, which sits in line with the middle 35% of sixth forms in England (25th to 60th percentile).

The practical takeaway is that Brunts’ sixth form performs more strongly than its GCSE headline suggests, and it is structured to support a range of destinations, including higher education and apprenticeships, rather than presenting as a narrow academic sixth form.

Parents comparing options locally can use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to benchmark Brunts’ GCSE and A-level profile against nearby schools, then shortlist based on the balance that matters for your child, academic pressure, support level, subject availability, and culture.

The school’s curriculum intent is clearly articulated. Leaders describe an ambitious, well sequenced curriculum, with subject plans designed so students build knowledge over time, including in the sixth form. Subject leadership is also clearly organised, with named subject leads across core areas and a specific Innovation and Digital lead, which usually signals that computing and digital literacy are being treated as a strategic priority rather than a timetable afterthought.

Where teaching is strongest, the method is structured and explicit. Teachers break learning into manageable components, use retrieval and questioning to check prior knowledge, and when this is done well it helps students consolidate rather than simply “move on”. This matters in a large comprehensive intake, because variation in prior attainment is normal, and well structured explanation is the most reliable way to reduce gaps.

The current development priority sits in assessment and responsiveness. The 2023 inspection notes that assessment is not used consistently well in lessons, and misconceptions are not always identified and addressed quickly enough. In practice, that can show up as students completing tasks without fully understanding, then carrying that misunderstanding forward. Families should probe how departments check understanding in real time, what happens when students fall behind, and how quickly intervention is triggered.

Reading has been made a priority, with tutor time reading and a well resourced library described as part of the strategy. This is a sensible lever for whole-school improvement because reading fluency is a foundation skill across all subjects, including science, humanities, and vocational pathways.

Brunts appears to serve a genuinely mixed destination profile, which is often what families want from a large local secondary, credible routes into university for some, and equally credible routes into employment and apprenticeships for others.

In the 2023 to 2024 leavers cohort (81 students), 44% progressed to university, 11% started apprenticeships, 25% entered employment, and 2% went into further education. A destination mix like this suggests the sixth form is not operating as a “one track” model and is supporting transitions into different pathways.

Selective university outcomes exist but are small scale rather than defining. In the measurement period provided, three students applied to Oxford or Cambridge, one received an offer, and one accepted a place. For a comprehensive sixth form, this is a useful signal of aspiration and guidance capacity, but it is not the primary story.

The most convincing indicator of quality here is coherence. If your child is academically ambitious, ask about the enrichment and extension structures that sit around A levels. If your child is more motivated by employment and technical routes, ask about employer engagement, work experience, and how careers guidance is delivered in practice. The school publishes careers-focused materials and frames sixth-form study as aligned to both higher education and apprenticeships.

For Year 7 entry, applications are coordinated through Nottinghamshire County Council. For September 2026 entry, the county’s published timeline opens applications on 04 August 2025, closes on 31 October 2025, with offers released on 02 March 2026.

Brunts publishes a Year 7 planned admission number (PAN) of 270. For families outside the immediate community, the admissions page is also useful because it lists the named feeder primary schools that commonly feed into Brunts, which can help parents predict likely peer continuity for children moving up from those schools.

In-year admissions are coordinated by the local authority, which is relevant for families moving into Mansfield mid-year or seeking a change of school.

For sixth form, Brunts welcomes applications from internal and external students. The school publishes an external Year 12 admission number of 30, in addition to eligible students already in Year 11 who stay on. It also states a general entry expectation of at least five GCSE passes at grade C or above (or equivalent) plus course-specific requirements, with an interview conversation to confirm the right study programme.

Because open evening dates are not clearly published on the sixth-form open evenings page, families should treat engagement timings as seasonal. In many schools with similar structures, sixth-form interviews and guidance conversations run in the spring term before entry, and Brunts’ application page references interviews taking place in spring, subject to availability.

Parents who are distance-sensitive or weighing multiple local options can use FindMySchool Map Search to check practical travel distance and compare day-to-day commute realism across shortlisted schools.

The safeguarding position is now significantly stronger than it was in 2022. The school’s current safeguarding judgement is effective, and that is the baseline families should expect in daily practice.

The more nuanced wellbeing question is culture rather than compliance. The 2023 evidence suggests students generally feel safe and see improvements, but not all are fully confident to report concerns, especially around poor behaviour or inappropriate comments, and feel assured of consistent follow-through. For parents, the appropriate focus is process reliability, how the school records issues, who owns resolution, what sanctions and restorative work look like, and how families are informed.

Personal development content is also in active development. The school introduced a newer personal development programme and a planned PSHE curriculum, but there are still gaps in students’ recall of key messages, including British values and protected characteristics. This can sound abstract, but it often translates into concrete corridor culture, language, tolerance, and how students handle disagreement. It is a useful area to explore during a visit, including how the curriculum is reinforced beyond discrete lessons.

Support for students with special educational needs and disabilities is described as focused on access to the same curriculum as peers, with staff support enabling work of similar quality in most lessons. Brunts also has a named SENDCo and a Director of SEND, which in practice can indicate capacity to coordinate support at scale.

The strongest extracurricular story at Brunts is the way enrichment aligns with employability and modern skills, rather than being limited to traditional clubs. This is where the school can feel more distinctive than headline results suggest.

STEM

Brunts Digital is the clearest example. The school describes an extra-curricular offer that includes learning to operate a drone, building and manufacturing using 3D printers, and a virtual reality headset club. For students who are motivated by practical application and emerging technology, activities like these can provide a reason to engage with computing, design, and problem solving beyond exam specifications.

Sport and community links

Enrichment content shows structured links with professional and community sports partners. Recent examples include a Nottingham Forest Community Trust training programme and a Derby County FC training event hosted at the club’s training ground. These kinds of experiences tend to land well with students who respond to coaching culture and clear performance goals.

Personal development and leadership

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is signposted within Brunts’ careers and pathways materials, as part of a broader approach to confidence, teamwork, and employability. Sixth form enrichment also emphasises mentoring, volunteering, and charity fundraising, which can be an important counterweight in a school working to strengthen its culture of respect and responsibility.

A key caveat is participation. The 2023 inspection notes that while activities exist, overall uptake is low. Families should ask what has changed since then, how the school removes barriers to participation, and whether there is active targeting of students who would benefit most.

The published school day includes Breakfast Club from 7:30am to 8:30am, registration from 8:35am, and the final lesson finishes at 3:00pm, with a 32.5 hour week stated.

For transport planning, the most reliable approach is to test the commute at the time your child would actually travel. Mansfield Woodhouse traffic patterns can make a short distance feel longer at peak times. If your family is comparing options across the town, factor in the return journey, after-school activities, and winter conditions.

• Consistency of behaviour management. Students describe a school that is calmer than it was, but disruption still occurs in some lessons and behaviour management is not always applied consistently. This can affect learning for students who need orderly classrooms to stay focused.

• Confidence to report concerns. Some students remain hesitant about reporting inappropriate comments or poor behaviour, because they are not sure incidents will be addressed reliably every time. Families should explore reporting routes and follow-up practice.

• Extracurricular participation, not availability. Activities exist, including digital clubs and sports experiences, yet uptake has been described as low. If enrichment is important for your child’s engagement, ask how participation is encouraged and monitored.

• Communication with parents. One improvement area highlighted is keeping parents informed about decisions and behaviour procedures. If you value proactive communication, ask what regular updates look like in practice.

The Brunts Academy is a large community secondary with a sixth form that has been judged stronger than the main school, and it is working through a realistic improvement process after a very weak 2022 inspection. The clearest strengths sit in curriculum intent, subject leadership structure, and a sixth form that supports multiple pathways. The main risk for families is whether day-to-day classroom consistency and reporting culture now feel stable enough for your child to thrive. Best suited to students who want a broad local school with improving expectations, structured support for next steps, and enrichment options that include modern digital and employability experiences, provided families are comfortable engaging actively with the school around behaviour and communication.