Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy Review 2026: A joint-faith secondary with improving culture, and a results picture still catching up

Change is a major theme here. The academy’s current name is recent (October 2023), with the school’s roots stretching back to its opening in September 1976 and its development into a joint Catholic and Church of England school from September 2009.

Leadership has also been refreshed, with Alicia Freeman in post as headteacher from September 2023. The most recent external inspection evidence aligns with the sense of a school stabilising its day-to-day culture while continuing to raise academic outcomes. Behaviour, personal development, and leadership are all judged Good, while quality of education is judged Requires improvement under the current inspection framework (published 09 May 2025).

For families in Castlefields and wider Runcorn looking for an 11 to 16, mixed, faith-centred secondary within Halton, the decision often comes down to priorities. If a calm climate, structured routines, and visible pastoral scaffolding matter most, the direction of travel is reassuring. If you need consistently strong GCSE outcomes today, the published results indicators remain the key question.

A joint Catholic and Church of England identity is not a footnote here, it shapes language, leadership roles, and the way community is described. The SIAMS evidence (June 2024) highlights a culture of self-reflection and spirituality as part of everyday life, including a named mindfulness club that students associate with space to reflect.

Alongside this, there is a purposeful attempt to rebuild shared expectations. The most recent inspection describes a strong sense of belonging, pupils feeling safe, and classrooms that are generally calm and orderly. That matters because for many families, the baseline is not about glossy facilities, it is about whether students can settle, feel known, and get through a full day of learning without disruption becoming the main story.

The school’s values are presented consistently across multiple official documents as Responsus, Respicio, Perseverantia. In practical terms, this shows up as a behaviour approach that aims to be explicit about routines, consequences, and the daily habits that support learning, rather than relying on informal norms that only some students understand.

This is a state secondary, so the most useful starting point is the GCSE outcomes picture in England terms, plus progress indicators.

Ranked 3,811th in England and 5th in Runcorn for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data), the school sits below England average overall.

The school’s Attainment 8 score is 27.3, and its Progress 8 score is -1.37. For parents, the implication is straightforward. Attainment 8 reflects the overall points secured across a student’s best eight GCSE slots (with English and maths double-weighted), while Progress 8 is designed to show whether students make more or less progress than pupils nationally with similar prior attainment. A negative figure of this size indicates that, on average, progress has been well below typical.

There is, however, an important context point when reading any results set. The most recent inspection states that curriculum and teaching improvements are in place, but that it is too soon to see the full impact on outcomes, and it highlights gaps in learning for some older pupils due to weaknesses in the previous curriculum. That is a credible explanation for a school that can feel stronger in daily practice than its headline results suggest, particularly if improvements were introduced mid-cohort.

If you are comparing several local options, this is the point to use FindMySchool’s Local Hub Comparison Tool to view GCSE indicators side by side, then sense-check the numbers against your child’s starting point and learning needs.

Teaching and curriculum are described as more coherent than previously, with a clearer sequencing of knowledge and logical steps, including for students with special educational needs and disabilities. The inspection evidence also points to teachers providing clear explanations, and to improved approaches for checking learning, albeit with inconsistency when it comes to uncovering misconceptions and moving students on when ready.

A practical, parent-facing takeaway is this. If your child thrives with structure and explicit instruction, the direction of travel should suit them, particularly where staff are using consistent routines and checking understanding effectively. If your child is vulnerable to falling behind quietly, you will want to ask how teachers identify misconceptions in real time, and how quickly catch-up is triggered when a student misses key building blocks.

Reading development is a notable strand. The inspection evidence references swift and effective support for pupils who need help to read fluently, and it explicitly mentions development of the school library as part of promoting reading for enjoyment. For families, that signals an approach that treats literacy as a whole-school priority, not only an English department concern.

Where Students Go Next

With education ending at 16 on site, the school’s job is to keep pathways open. The most recent inspection confirms that the school meets provider access requirements (the duty to give students encounters with technical education and apprenticeship routes), and it references tailored careers guidance as part of the personal development programme.

In practice, the choice set for many students in Halton will include sixth forms, further education colleges, and apprenticeship routes. The school’s careers work matters because it is a lever for motivation in Years 9 to 11. When students can see a credible line from their GCSE subjects to a post-16 course or job family, attendance and effort become easier to sustain.

If you are evaluating fit for a student who needs strong guidance and frequent adult check-ins, ask how careers education is structured across Years 7 to 11, and how the school uses work experience, employer encounters, and application support for college places.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Halton’s secondary admissions process rather than directly by the school. The local authority booklet for September 2026 entry sets out the key timetable clearly: the closing date is 31 October 2025, offers are released on 02 March 2026, and the deadline for submitting an intention to appeal is 31 March 2026.

For this academy specifically, the same booklet lists a Published Admission Number of 120 for 2026, and it records that the last academic year’s applications were all accommodated, with 51 pupils allocated for September 2025. This suggests that, at least in that allocation cycle, admission was not constrained by a tight distance cut-off.

Because the school has a religious character spanning Catholic and Church of England, faith-based oversubscription criteria can apply if a year group is oversubscribed. The Halton booklet includes criteria that refer to Church of England communities in Runcorn as part of the allocation framework. Families considering a faith route should read both the local authority guidance and the school’s own admissions documentation carefully, then confirm what evidence is required and how it is prioritised if demand rises.

A practical tip: if you are deciding between several local schools, use FindMySchoolMap Search to understand travel time and day-to-day logistics. Even when a school is not distance-tight, a long commute can still shape attendance and enrichment participation.

Pastoral support is described through both formal roles and targeted wellbeing provision. The school’s published materials for new starters describe form tutors as a central point of contact and refer to a broader pastoral structure including heads of year.

There is also evidence of specific mental health signposting and referral pathways. The SEND Information Report (2025) references Mental Health and Wellbeing Team Ambassadors with trauma-informed approach training, plus referral routes including Kooth, the school nurse, and the Mental Health Support Team, with escalation through mentoring and external agency referrals where needed.

The second key safeguard for parents is attendance culture, because persistent absence often sits underneath weaker academic outcomes. The most recent inspection points to attendance improvements beginning to take effect, while still identifying that too many pupils, including some vulnerable pupils, do not attend regularly enough.

Ofsted states that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

The enrichment picture is important here because it gives insight into student motivation and belonging, especially for students who do not immediately see themselves as “academic”. The most recent inspection references an increasing number of extra-curricular activities, including sports clubs and residential visits, plus leadership roles such as student chaplains, school council members, and mentors for younger pupils.

There are also specific, named examples on the school website. Runaway Writers, linked to the school’s Creative Writers’ Club, is led by an English teacher (Paula Radford) and centres on students writing and sharing work across genres, including graphic novels and murder mysteries, with an anthology launched for families. This is a strong signal of an accessible, low-barrier route into confidence building, because writing clubs often attract students who might not opt into competitive sport but still want a defined community.

For students who prefer structured, hobby-based groups, the school prospectus also references Warhammer as an example of after-school club life, alongside the Duke of Edinburgh Award. The implication is that enrichment is not only the standard set of sports fixtures, it includes quieter interest-based communities that can be decisive for attendance and friendship formation.

On the spiritual and reflective side, the SIAMS evidence highlights mindfulness club by name, and it links that to students having time and language for reflection. For some families, that will feel like a distinctive element of the school’s joint-faith identity, especially when paired with leadership roles such as student chaplains.

The school day runs from 08:30 to 15:00, with form time from 08:30 to 08:50 and five taught lessons shown in the published timings. Total school time is stated as 32.5 hours per week.

As a state academy, there are no tuition fees. Families should still budget for the typical extras that sit around secondary school life, including uniform, equipment, and optional trips, and should check the school’s published guidance for the most current expectations.

• GCSE outcomes remain the main caution. The school’s England ranking and Progress 8 figure show that results have been well below typical levels. For academically driven families, the key question is whether recent curriculum changes will translate into stronger exam performance for your child’s cohort.

• Attendance is an improvement focus. The latest evidence acknowledges progress, but also that too many pupils do not attend regularly enough. If your child is at risk of missing school, ask what early intervention looks like and how quickly attendance concerns escalate.

• Faith-based admissions can matter if demand rises. Recent local authority information suggests places were accommodated in the last cycle, but if year groups become more competitive, understanding faith and other oversubscription priorities becomes more important.

• A school in transition can feel uneven across year groups. Curriculum gaps for some older pupils are explicitly referenced in the most recent inspection. Families with children entering mid-phase should ask how catch-up is organised, particularly in English and maths.

Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy reads as a school rebuilding core routines, relationships, and a coherent curriculum, with external evidence pointing to stronger behaviour and personal development than the results profile suggests. The strongest fit is likely for families who value a faith-centred, community-led setting and who want a clearer, more structured day than the school previously offered, particularly for students who benefit from strong pastoral scaffolding and defined enrichment communities. The main decision hinge is academic: if you need proven GCSE strength now, the published outcomes indicators remain the biggest concern.