Waterhead Academy Review 2026: Large 11–16 academy with improving culture and clear next steps

This is a big, mixed 11–16 secondary in the Waterhead area of Oldham, set up to serve a broad local intake at scale. It is not a small, selective environment; the planned admissions number is 270 per year group, so year teams are sizeable and routines matter. The school’s stated focus is on consistent teaching, positive relationships, and a culture that helps students secure what it calls their “passport to success” at GCSE.

The most recent formal inspection picture is nuanced. Personal development is the strongest area, while quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management remain areas that need further improvement. At the same time, the inspection narrative recognises meaningful improvement since the previous inspection and highlights a welcoming community and strengthened expectations.

For parents, the key question is fit. This will suit families who want a mainstream, structured secondary with improving systems, a broad curriculum including vocational strands, and plentiful enrichment. It will not suit families who want consistently high academic outcomes right now, or who need a smaller setting with very low levels of disruption.

The school’s own messaging puts relationships and high expectations at the centre, with student-selected values of Respect, Ambition and Determination used as the anchor for behaviour and culture. The tone is deliberately practical and future-facing, with frequent references to preparation for the next stage rather than prestige for its own sake.

External evidence largely supports the emphasis on belonging and safety. The inspection narrative describes a welcoming community in which pupils from varied backgrounds mix well, with staff attention to wellbeing and clear routes for pupils to raise worries. That matters in a large school, because scale can either dilute support or force systems to be sharper; here, the direction of travel is towards clearer routines and more consistent handling of incidents, even if a minority of pupils still disrupt learning at times.

Leadership visibility is also part of the identity. The school website currently presents Mrs T Foy as Principal, and the published leadership list reinforces a sizeable senior team structure, including vice principals and senior assistant principals with clear portfolios. For parents, the practical implication is that school improvement is not being left to individual classroom heroes; the model is designed for consistency across a very large timetable.

Facilities are positioned as a lever for engagement and aspiration. The principal’s welcome highlights sports amenities such as a fitness suite and multi-use games area (MUGA), plus specialist spaces for creative arts, science, technology, and a hair and beauty salon. In a mainstream 11–16, that kind of breadth can help students find identity and motivation beyond English and mathematics, which is often a critical ingredient in attendance and behaviour improvement.

On headline performance indicators, the school currently sits below England’s mid-point on FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking. It is ranked 3,564th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and 16th within Oldham. Put plainly, this places performance below England average and within the lower performance band nationally.

The underlying attainment measures point in the same direction. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 33.9, and the Progress 8 score is -0.72. Progress 8 is designed so that 0 represents average progress from the end of primary school; a negative score indicates students, on average, make less progress than peers with similar starting points.

The EBacc indicators suggest that fewer students are currently securing strong outcomes across the full English Baccalaureate suite. The percentage achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc is 5.1, and the average EBacc APS is 3.0, compared with an England benchmark of 4.08. For families, the implication is that the school’s current strengths are more likely to sit in specific subjects or pathways than in consistently high outcomes across the full academic suite.

A vital contextual point is that the January 2025 inspection explicitly describes substantial improvement since the previous inspection, but also identifies inconsistency in curriculum delivery and classroom practice as the central barrier to stronger outcomes. In other words, the results profile aligns with the improvement story: better structures and ambition are visible, but the classroom experience is not yet consistently strong enough to lift outcomes for all students.

Parents comparing options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and Comparison Tool to view local secondaries side-by-side, because “16th in Oldham” can mean very different things depending on the spread of performance in the borough and the characteristics of neighbouring schools.

The school positions its curriculum as broad and ambitious, with a clear aim that pupils study subjects in depth rather than skimming content. That direction is explicitly echoed in the most recent inspection narrative, which describes curriculum refinement since the previous inspection, and clearer identification of what pupils should learn and when.

The practical challenge is consistency. The inspection narrative identifies uneven implementation, including variation in the techniques teachers use to secure understanding and in how well staff check what pupils have learned before moving on. In a large school, that kind of variability can be felt sharply by families, because it makes students’ experiences more dependent on timetable and staffing patterns. The implication is that families should pay close attention to how the school is standardising lesson routines, assessment checks, and support for students who fall behind.

Reading is clearly being treated as a whole-school priority. External evidence describes systems to identify gaps and target support. That matters because reading weakness is often the hidden driver of underachievement at key stage 4, especially for students with SEND or those who have experienced disrupted learning. The inspection narrative also notes that a small minority in key stage 4 still have weak reading due to historically ineffective support, which is a candid reminder that recovery can take time, especially when gaps have compounded across years.

Provision for students with SEND is presented as a focus area, but with acknowledged variability in day-to-day classroom impact. The inspection narrative describes accurate identification and guidance for staff, while noting that some teachers do not use strategies or specialist resources effectively enough. For parents of children with additional needs, the key practical question is how the school monitors the consistency of support across subjects, not merely whether support plans exist.

As an 11–16 school with no sixth form, the key transition is post-16, to further education, apprenticeships, or employment with training. The school’s own communications around GCSE results highlight that students commonly progress to first-choice destinations across these routes, and it also gives examples of students moving on to local sixth form and college pathways.

The wider careers offer is structured rather than informal. The website navigation shows dedicated careers content including local further education links, provider access information, and a published careers activities calendar. The implication for families is that post-16 planning is treated as a whole-school process rather than a final-term add-on. That can be particularly valuable in a school with a broad ability range, where “next steps” need to be personal and realistic.

Because no official cohort destination percentages are available here, it is sensible for families to treat destinations as an individual conversation. A good question at open events is how the school supports different routes, for example, how vocational learners are connected to apprenticeships, and how academically inclined students are supported into level 3 courses that keep university options open.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through Oldham Council, rather than by direct application to the school. This is typical for academy secondary admissions in the borough, and it means the council timetable drives deadlines and offer dates, even if the school provides its own admissions policy and guidance.

For September 2026 entry, Oldham’s published secondary application window runs from 01 August 2025 to 31 October 2025, with offers issued on 02 March 2026. Late applications are processed after on-time applications, with the council outlining how changes such as a house move must be notified within specific windows.

The school publishes its planned admissions number and states that it does not intend to increase that figure, noting a PAN of 270 in each year group (reviewed annually). In practical terms, this tells parents two things. First, the scale of intake is stable and planned. Second, if year groups fill, in-year transfers will depend on capacity and are managed via the local authority process, with the school noting that admission typically occurs at the start of a new term unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Parents who want to understand competitiveness should ask Oldham Council for the latest allocation and distance information for the relevant admissions round, as these can change year to year based on cohort size and application patterns.

The school’s pastoral narrative is explicit: positive relationships are meant to be the daily driver, alongside teaching quality and leadership. The values framework gives staff a common language to reinforce expectations, and the website’s parent information architecture suggests a strong focus on attendance, punctuality, behaviour routines, and safeguarding visibility.

In the most recent inspection, safeguarding was confirmed as effective, which is the minimum threshold families should expect but still worth stating clearly given the school’s recent improvement journey.

Behaviour and attendance are the two practical levers that tend to determine how a large secondary feels day to day. External evidence indicates raised expectations and more consistent handling of behaviour incidents, while also acknowledging that a small minority of students still do not meet expectations and can occasionally disrupt learning. Attendance is described as improving overall, with persistent absence remaining a concern for some disadvantaged pupils and some students with SEND. The implication is straightforward: the school is building stronger systems, but families should explore how these systems land in their child’s year group and how quickly concerns are addressed.

Enrichment is framed as an expectation rather than an optional extra. The school encourages every student to attend at least one enrichment activity, and it positions clubs and experiences as part of learning, not just recreation. That kind of stance matters in a school where motivation can vary widely, because structured enrichment often improves attendance and behaviour by strengthening belonging.

Two named pathways stand out. First, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is available from Year 10 at Bronze level, with the school describing its status as a Direct Licensed Organisation. The educational implication is that students can build sustained habits around volunteering, physical activity, and expedition planning, which can be particularly beneficial for students who thrive with practical goals and tangible milestones.

Second, the school promotes NHS Cadets, which signals a tangible link between personal development and vocational aspiration, especially for students considering health and social care pathways. In a school that offers vocational curriculum strands such as health and social care and hair and beauty, that kind of enrichment can make “next steps” feel real rather than abstract.

Arts and sport appear to be popular areas, supported by specialist spaces and sports amenities highlighted by the school. For families, the practical question is participation. Ask how many clubs run each week, how students sign up, and how the school ensures quieter students are drawn into enrichment rather than stepping back.

The academy day runs from 8:30am to 3:00pm, equating to 32.5 hours per week. For working families, the key practical follow-up is wraparound provision, which is not always standard in a secondary setting, so it is worth checking directly what supervised before-school or after-school arrangements are available beyond clubs.

For transport, the school sits on a main route through the Waterhead area of Oldham, so many families will prioritise walking routes, bus services, and safe drop-off arrangements. If transport is a deciding factor, open events are the right moment to ask about student entry points, on-site movement at the start and end of the day, and any travel guidance for new Year 7s.

• Academic recovery still in progress. Current GCSE performance indicators and the latest inspection judgements show that outcomes and consistency in teaching remain a work in progress. This can suit families who value improvement momentum, but it may not suit those seeking consistently high results today.

• Behaviour remains a live issue for a minority. Expectations are rising and routines are clearer, but a small group of students can still disrupt learning at times. Families should ask how behaviour is managed in practice, including how quickly classroom disruption is addressed.

• Large-school experience. With a PAN of 270 and capacity of 1,500, students need to manage a busy timetable and a large peer group. Some thrive on this; others prefer smaller settings where staff contact is inherently more frequent.

• Post-16 transition is universal. With no sixth form, every student moves on at 16. That is a positive for students ready for a fresh start, but families should engage early with careers guidance and local college options.

Waterhead Academy is a large 11–16 that has made visible strides in culture, curriculum planning, and personal development, while still working to secure consistent classroom practice and stronger academic outcomes. It is best suited to families who want a mainstream, structured school with broad facilities, clear enrichment expectations, and an improving behaviour and attendance story, and who are prepared to engage actively with routines and support. Families prioritising strong results right now, or seeking a smaller, quieter setting, should weigh alternatives and use FindMySchool’s comparison tools to shortlist realistically.