The Wells Academy Review 2026: Clear routines, strong pastoral safeguards, and a school in active improvement

A secondary academy for students aged 11 to 16, The Wells Academy is built around a highly structured culture, with punctuality, uniform and learning habits treated as non negotiables. The day begins early, with gates opening at 8.20am and a clear expectation that students are ready for line up by 8.30am. A free Breakfast Club from 8am is part of the practical offer for families, and it also acts as a calm start point for students who benefit from routine.

Leadership and systems have been a major focus since the academy opened as a new school in September 2020. Principal George Coles joined in January 2023, with wider leadership changes following that point, which matters when you are judging trajectory as well as headline outcomes. The most recent inspection judged the academy Requires Improvement overall, with Personal Development graded Good, and safeguarding confirmed as effective.

The academy’s public language is direct and specific. Three values sit at the centre of how expectations are framed, Integrity, Resilience, and Ambition. These are not presented as abstract ideals. They are used to justify a tight behaviour and attendance stance, and to signal that students are expected to take responsibility for punctuality, presentation and focus.

The culture offer is also unusually explicit about student safety and reporting. Bullying is described as a red line, and the academy promotes immediate reporting, including structured routes for raising concerns. The I want to talk route is positioned as a direct link to safeguarding staff, which can reassure families who want clarity about how issues move from disclosure to action.

Although the site emphasises boundaries, it also signals investment in belonging. The inspection report describes an inclusive, diverse school with deliberate work on inclusion, and notes that most students say they feel safe. Importantly, it also highlights a consistency issue, where students report that disruption can occur when behaviour systems are not applied in the same way by every teacher. That combination, high expectations plus a system still bedding in across all classrooms, is key to understanding the lived experience.

Academic outcomes are a mixed picture, with headline measures indicating that students, on average, have not achieved as strongly as peers nationally. In the most recent dataset used for this review, Attainment 8 is 34.2 and Progress 8 is -0.95, which indicates that progress from prior attainment is well below average for similar students. EBacc average point score is 2.96.

On FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking (a proprietary ranking built from official data), the academy is ranked 3,553rd in England and 47th in Nottingham. That places results below England average, within the lower performing 40% of schools in England on this measure.

The practical implication for families is that this is not currently a results led destination. For the right child, the draw is more likely to be culture, safety, and the improvement agenda, rather than raw outcomes. That does not make it the wrong choice, but it does make fit especially important, particularly for students who need strong academic stretch or consistently high performing classroom routines.

Curriculum intent appears more ambitious than the outcomes might suggest. The inspection report describes an ambitious, well sequenced curriculum with clear knowledge and skills set out by leaders. Where classroom delivery is strong, students benefit from clear explanations, checking for understanding, and misconceptions being addressed in real time. Science and physical education are highlighted as examples where curriculum delivery is more consistently effective.

The key development issue is consistency. Assessment and checking for understanding is not reliably systematic across subjects, which can leave gaps unspotted and misconceptions uncorrected. The same pattern shows up in expectations for written accuracy, where insistence on punctuation and spelling is not always consistent. For parents, this matters because inconsistency can disproportionately affect students who are quiet, who lack confidence to ask for help, or who have weaker literacy foundations.

SEND identification is described as clear, with a nurture provision used to support some students effectively. The challenge is classroom adaptation, where strategies are not always implemented well enough for students with SEND to access learning consistently. If your child has identified needs, it is worth focusing any school visit questions on how classroom teachers are trained and coached to implement agreed strategies, not just on what support exists outside the classroom.

Where Students Go Next

The academy serves students to age 16, so the key transition point is post 16. The inspection evidence indicates that careers education is a planned strength and is intended to prepare students well for next steps, including technical routes. The report also confirms the academy meets provider access requirements, which means students should receive information and engagement about technical education and apprenticeships pathways as well as academic routes.

For families, the implication is straightforward. If you want an all through pathway to Year 13 on one site, this is not that model. The transition after GCSEs is a real decision point, and students who prefer continuity should plan early, using Year 9 options and careers guidance to keep doors open.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through Nottingham City Council rather than directly by the academy. For September entry, the academy’s admissions information states that applications should be submitted by midday on 31 October in the year before admission. The academy also publishes a planned admission capacity of 180 students per year group.

Offer day follows the national timetable. Nottingham City Council states that secondary applications close on 31 October each year, with national offer day on 1 March (or the next working day if that falls on a weekend or bank holiday). For the 2026 to 2027 coordinated scheme in the local area, key dates published by Nottinghamshire include an offer date of 2 March 2026.

If you are using distance, catchment or transport as your deciding factor, treat it as a live variable. Admissions criteria and tie breaks can shift year to year, and application patterns change. FindMySchool’s Map Search can help you sanity check journey time and practical feasibility while you shortlist, but your final decision should always reflect the current coordinated scheme and the academy’s published admissions arrangements.

Safeguarding is a clear strength. The inspection confirms a strong safeguarding culture, trained staff, clear reporting procedures, and effective work with external agencies when students need extra support.

Pastoral systems show up in everyday practical decisions too. The academy communicates clear expectations about safe reporting, online safety and boundaries around phone use, with mobile phones banned during the school day. Families who prefer a hard line on phone distraction often welcome this, while others may want to understand how confiscation, communication on the journey home, and exceptions are handled in practice.

The free Breakfast Club is also a pastoral lever. For students who arrive hungry, anxious, or dysregulated, the availability of a structured morning start can reduce friction before lessons begin, and it can help punctuality become a habit rather than a daily battle.

Wider opportunities are actively promoted, with the academy encouraging students to participate in at least one club or activity each half term. The inspection report references clubs such as football, badminton, volleyball and art, plus a breakfast club offer.

Reading appears to be a deliberate strand of improvement work. News and newsletter content highlights after school reading clubs and a library vending machine linked to book tokens, which is a simple but effective way to turn reading into something visible and normal. The implication for families is that literacy support is not confined to intervention groups, it is being presented as a whole school habit, which can particularly help students who need confidence as much as decoding skills.

Sport is unusually tangible because of Mapperley Sports Village, which the academy references as part of its facilities and partnerships. Communication to families describes access to high quality provision through a partnership with the Nottingham Hoods Basketball Club, and the venue is also used for student collection to support site safety. For students, the implication is more space and more structured sport opportunity beyond standard PE lessons, and for parents it can improve end of day logistics.

Performing arts also has visible momentum. Recent newsletters reference school productions including Annie, and a scheduled run of Shrek: The Musical in February 2026. This matters because large scale productions usually indicate breadth, staff time investment, and opportunities for students who prefer backstage roles as much as lead parts.

The academy day is organised around punctuality and routine. Gates open at 8.20am and close at 8.30am, with late arrivals sanctioned according to academy policy. Breakfast Club is available from 8am. The academy also publishes a weekly total of 33.3 hours of compulsory time.

Student collection arrangements have, at times, directed families to use Mapperley Sports Village, which signals that site flow and safety at peak times are actively managed.

• Headline outcomes. GCSE performance measures in the latest dataset used here remain weak, including a Progress 8 score of -0.95 and an Attainment 8 score of 34.2. For students who need a strongly results driven environment, this is a significant consideration.

• Consistency of behaviour and learning routines. External review evidence points to variability in how consistently the behaviour policy is applied, with disruption affecting learning when routines are not implemented consistently.

• SEND classroom adaptation. Identification and targeted nurture support are described positively, but classroom strategies are not always implemented well enough for some students with SEND to access learning consistently.

• No sixth form. The academy finishes at 16, so families need a clear plan for post 16 pathways and a willingness to change setting after GCSEs.

The Wells Academy is best understood as a school that puts structure, safeguarding and culture first, with a clear improvement agenda under a principal who joined in January 2023. The most recent inspection confirms effective safeguarding and a stronger personal development offer than the headline results suggest, but it also underlines the scale of work still needed on consistent classroom delivery and outcomes.

Who it suits: students who benefit from clear routines, firm boundaries around behaviour and phones, and a school that is explicit about safety and support routes. Families weighing this option should go in with open eyes about results, ask detailed questions about classroom consistency, and treat post 16 planning as part of the decision, not an afterthought.