Queen Katharine Academy Review 2026: Large 11–18 academy in Walton with a stronger sixth form than the main school

Queen Katharine Academy is a large, mixed secondary and sixth form in Walton, Peterborough, serving a diverse intake and operating as part of Thomas Deacon Education Trust. In early 2026, the story is best understood as one of transition and improvement. The most recent full inspection identified significant weaknesses in key areas of the main school, while also highlighting a more positive picture in the sixth form.

Leadership has changed recently, with Mark Taylor now named as principal, and the school describing a renewed focus on Respect, Ambition and Responsibility, supported by clearer expectations for students and staff. For families, this means weighing an improving direction of travel against the practical reality that consistency across teaching and behaviour is still being embedded.

A defining feature here is scale. With a large roll and sixth form included, the school has the feel of a busy local institution rather than a small, boutique setting. That scale can be a strength, especially for students who benefit from broader peer groups and a wide span of course options post 16. It can also be harder to achieve uniform consistency in routines and expectations, which is precisely where the school has been working to tighten practice.

Day-to-day expectations are being made clearer. The monitoring visit later in 2025 noted that pledges had been introduced and that students were responding positively to this clarity, including experiencing calmer classrooms and reduced internal truancy. The same letter also indicates that leadership structures had been reshaped, with additional trust support and a detailed improvement plan.

The earlier full inspection gives a more mixed picture of student experience in the main school. It recognised that many pupils enjoyed attending and that classroom behaviour was often settled, while also identifying that behaviour in less structured times could leave some pupils feeling unsafe and that confidence in reporting bullying needed to improve. For parents, the practical implication is that the atmosphere may feel very different depending on year group, friendship dynamics, and how a student experiences unstructured social time.

Academic outcomes sit below the national picture overall, and it is important to be precise about what that means in practice. At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 31.6, and Progress 8 is -0.64, indicating that, on average, students made less progress than peers with similar starting points.

Ranked 3,736th in England and 20th in Peterborough for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), performance sits below England average overall.

A level results show a similar pattern. 33.57% of entries achieved grades A*–B, with 7.7% at A*/A combined (2.8% A* and 4.9% A). Compared with the England A level averages in the same data set (23.6% at A*/A and 47.2% at A*–B), this is lower.

Ranked 2,050th in England and 12th in Peterborough for A level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the sixth form results remain below England average overall.

The most helpful way to interpret these figures is alongside the school’s improvement narrative. The full inspection found that a recently reviewed curriculum set out clear ambitions, but teaching did not consistently align to that ambition at the time, leading to gaps in knowledge across subjects. The later monitoring letter reports progress in classroom calm and developing staff expertise, but also acknowledges that teaching is not yet consistently precise enough to close gaps across the board.

Parents comparing outcomes locally can use the FindMySchool local hub and comparison tools to view GCSE and A level indicators alongside other nearby options, then weigh those numbers against the school’s current trajectory.

Curriculum intent has been strengthened, but the core challenge has been reliable classroom delivery. The full inspection describes a curriculum that had been recently reviewed and sequenced, with clarity about what pupils should learn and when, but with teaching that often moved on before checking what pupils understood. That gap between curriculum planning and classroom execution is one of the most important factors for families to understand, because it affects both outcomes and student confidence.

Reading is being treated as a priority. The inspection refers to a “register and read” approach in form time, plus targeted phonics support for students who need it, albeit with some inconsistency in matching support precisely to individual needs. For parents of students who arrive with weaker literacy, this can matter as much as subject teaching, because reading fluency underpins access to the rest of the curriculum.

Post 16, the tone shifts. The inspection found subject expertise and more carefully stepped teaching in the sixth form, with students able to discuss learning using subject vocabulary and teachers using assessment more effectively. The implication is that some students may experience a stronger academic culture and greater clarity about improvement strategies once they reach Year 12, compared with earlier years.

The destination picture is best read as varied, reflecting a sixth form that serves students with different pathways rather than a single, narrowly academic pipeline.

For the 2023/24 leavers cohort, 41% progressed to university. A further 32% entered employment, 5% progressed to further education, and 2% started apprenticeships. These figures indicate that higher education is a significant pathway, but not the only one, and that employment routes are also prominent for a meaningful share of leavers.

Oxbridge progression exists but is small scale. In the most recent measurement period in the data set, there were two Oxbridge applications and one student secured an Oxbridge place. For families with highly academic ambitions, that suggests Oxbridge is possible, but the school is not currently an Oxbridge-heavy environment where large cohorts follow that route as a norm.

In practice, this mix can suit students who benefit from options and flexibility. Those who want a clearly defined Russell Group pipeline should ask the sixth form team how university guidance operates, what support is available for competitive courses, and what recent examples look like for similar students.

For Year 7 entry, applications are coordinated by Peterborough City Council rather than being handled directly by the school. For September 2026 entry, the first round application window ran from 12 September to 31 October 2025, with offers released on 2 March 2026. Late and second round applications remain possible, with the council’s published second round window running from 1 November 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Open events follow a typical seasonal pattern. For the September 2026 intake cycle, the council listed the school’s Year 7 open day in September 2025, which aligns with the common approach of open evenings early in the autumn term ahead of the October deadline. Families planning for future years should expect a similar timing and check the school and local authority listings for confirmed dates.

Sixth form admissions are separate from the council route, and the council explicitly notes that it does not process post 16 applications. The school’s admissions information points applicants to its sixth form application route.

Where distance matters, families should use FindMySchool’s map tools to check precise home-to-school measurements. Even when a school is not operating a tight radius in a particular year, admissions can be sensitive to small differences in distance and priority criteria.

Support structures are described in practical, role-based terms. The student wellbeing information states that every student has access to a tutor, a student support officer, and a progress leader, with multiple routes for raising concerns and being directed to more specialist help when needed. This kind of layered model can work well in a large school, because it reduces the chance that a student relies on only one trusted adult.

Safeguarding is an area where the external evidence is clear. The full inspection states that safeguarding arrangements were effective, and the later monitoring letter describes a strong safeguarding culture, secure trust oversight, and effective engagement with the local authority and external agencies.

Inclusion is another theme. The monitoring letter refers to an “inclusion hub” supporting students with the greatest challenges through tailored interventions, with reductions in suspension and reduced use of alternative provision for those students. For families of children who need structured behavioural and pastoral support, this is a useful practical question to explore during conversations with the school, including how students are reintegrated into mainstream lessons.

Extracurricular access is positioned as both social and academic. The school’s clubs information gives examples of lunchtime and after-school options including board games, Lego club, art, STEM, and sports clubs. It also highlights a Study Hub based in the library after school, plus subject catch-up sessions at lunchtime. For some families, that Study Hub offer is as important as clubs, because it provides a supervised structure for homework completion and revision routines.

A strength, when it is working well, is student leadership and community engagement. The inspection report notes pupil leaders taking pride in fundraising, working in the local community, and raising awareness of environmental issues. That kind of participation can be especially valuable in a large school, because it gives motivated students a way to shape school culture and develop responsibility.

The school also describes community liaison work that includes mentoring students, supporting meetings with parents, running drop-in lunch clubs, and helping with cultural celebrations. For families newer to the local area, or those who value structured school-to-home connection, this is a distinctive operational feature that can make day-to-day communication easier.

One caveat is engagement. The inspection noted that, although a broad range of clubs and activities existed, student participation was low at the time. The implication is that the offer may be there on paper, but families should ask what participation currently looks like by year group, and what the school is doing to improve take-up.

The school publishes key parent-facing operational information online, including term dates and a timetable document for the school day. Because daily timings can be updated, parents should check the most recent version of the school day information rather than relying on older summaries.

For travel, the Walton location suits families in north Peterborough, with many students likely to use a mix of walking, cycling, public transport, and lifts. Where travel time is a deciding factor, it is sensible to check peak-time routes and supervision expectations for younger year groups.

• Consistency is still being secured. The inspection identified gaps between curriculum ambition and classroom delivery, and the later monitoring letter confirms that improvement is under way but not yet fully consistent. This matters most for students who need predictable routines and steady teaching practice to thrive.

• Behaviour and bullying confidence need careful scrutiny. The inspection reported that unstructured social time could feel unsafe for some pupils and that many pupils lacked confidence that bullying would be dealt with, even though later monitoring suggests bullying reports had reduced. Families should ask directly how reporting works now, what consequences look like, and how staff ensure consistency across corridors and social spaces.

• Sixth form can feel different from the main school. External evidence points to stronger teaching and behaviour post 16. This can be a real advantage for students who benefit from a reset at Year 12, but it also means younger students may not experience the best of the school until later.

Queen Katharine Academy is best understood as a large community secondary and sixth form that is working through significant improvement priorities, with a clearer upward direction visible by late 2025 and a stronger sixth form model than the main school at the time of the last full inspection. It suits families who value scale, local accessibility in north Peterborough, and a post 16 route where teaching practice is stronger and pathways are mixed. The key decision point is whether the current pace of improvement, particularly around consistent teaching and behaviour outside lessons, matches what your child needs right now.