Sir Thomas Boughey Academy Review 2026: A values-led 11–16 academy with clear routines and a strong extra-curricular drive

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy is an 11–16 secondary in Halmer End, serving families across this part of Staffordshire with a structured school day, a strong focus on behaviour for learning, and a visible push on enrichment. The academy sits within Windsor Academy Trust and frames its day-to-day culture around “excellence, kindness and respect”, with routines that start early and keep students moving through a full timetable until mid-afternoon.

Leadership is current and clearly signposted. Mrs Lisa Shoreman is the headteacher, with governance documentation showing her start in the headteacher ex-officio role from 01 October 2025, following the end of the previous headteacher’s term at the end of September 2025.

Parents considering the school should weigh two big realities. First, the school is oversubscribed for Year 7 in the most recent admissions dataset provided, so application discipline and deadlines matter. Second, published performance measures place outcomes below England average overall, so the decision often turns on whether your child will benefit from the school’s routines, pastoral structures, and enrichment offer, and whether you are comfortable with the current attainment profile as the baseline for improvement.

The best single lens on day-to-day experience is routine. The academy publishes a detailed timetable that begins with line-up and registration at 8.40am and moves through six periods with tutor time, break, and lunch clearly structured, finishing at 3.15pm. That cadence suits students who do well with predictability and clear transitions, and it also sets a firm expectation around punctuality and readiness.

Culture messaging is consistent across the school’s public materials. The welcome page puts emphasis on students being known and valued, and on a calm ambition that expects regular attendance, positive conduct, and participation. The same pages also highlight the Boughey Extra programme as a key identity feature rather than a bolt-on.

The academy’s leadership structure is unusually transparent for a mainstream secondary. A named senior team is published, including a deputy headteacher who is designated safeguarding lead, and assistant headteacher roles spanning standards and personal development. This matters for parents because it signals where decision-making sits, and it makes it easier to understand how behaviour, attendance, and wellbeing are managed when questions arise.

Historically, the school’s story is tied closely to Halmer End itself. Local history sources describe the first school on this site as dating back to 1849, and they trace how it evolved through successive phases to become Sir Thomas Boughey High School, named after the original landowner, before the current academy identity. For many families, that continuity reads as “the local secondary”, with deep community roots and generations of local connections.

This review uses the provided outcomes dataset for performance and rankings, and it paints a challenging picture academically, particularly on progress.

GCSE ranking position (FindMySchool ranking based on official data)

Ranked 3400th in England and 19th in Stoke-on-Trent for GCSE outcomes.

That England position places performance below England average, within the bottom 40% banding used for this ranking framework. In plain terms, it is not currently a high-performing GCSE school on the headline comparative measure, even before you look at progress indicators.

On the published GCSE measures supplied for this school:

• Attainment 8 is 39.3.

• Progress 8 is -0.46, which indicates that, on average, students are making less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally.

• EBacc average points score (APS) is 3.27 (with the England comparator supplied as 4.08).

• The percentage achieving grades 5 or above across EBacc subjects is recorded as 0% on the provided measure, a figure that can sometimes reflect entry patterns as well as outcomes, but which, taken at face value, signals a clear area for scrutiny.

Parents comparing schools should focus on Progress 8 as the most meaningful signal of how well a school helps students move forward from their starting points, and then triangulate that with curriculum choices, behaviour expectations, and support structures. For families doing a wider shortlist, FindMySchool’s Local Hub comparison tools are useful for viewing these measures side by side with nearby alternatives.

The academy presents teaching as structured, with consistent expectations on student readiness and equipment, including reference to charged iPads as part of the day-to-day learning set-up.

The iPad approach is positioned as a deliberate learning strategy rather than a marketing feature, and the school provides supporting guidance and parent controls information through its published materials. The practical implication is that homework, resources, and communication are likely to rely on a digital workflow, which suits students who are organised and responsive to online assignment routines, and may require more scaffolding for those who are not.

Subject information pages indicate a conventional secondary curriculum model with key stage sequencing and exam board clarity, for example the history curriculum outline that specifies topics and the GCSE assessment structure. This kind of transparency helps parents and students understand what the learning journey looks like across Years 7 to 11, and how assessment builds toward terminal exams.

As an 11–16 school, Sir Thomas Boughey Academy’s main transition point is post-16. The school publishes GCSE results day timing information and maintains an exams information area, which is practical for families planning that transition.

The school’s own news content references students progressing to further education after GCSEs, but it does not consistently publish a numeric destinations breakdown in the materials surfaced in this research. In the absence of published destination percentages, families should approach this as a local 11–16 that will typically feed into nearby sixth forms and further education colleges, alongside apprenticeships, and should ask directly about guidance, employer engagement, and sustained destinations tracking.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy is oversubscribed on the most recent admissions dataset provided for Year 7 entry route, with 151 applications for 98 offers, a subscription proportion of 1.54 applications per place. That is competitive, though not at the extreme end seen in the most pressured urban catchments.

For September 2026 entry, the academy’s admissions page is unusually specific on dates: applications open 01 September 2025, close 31 October 2025, and decisions are issued 02 March 2026. The school states that applications should be made through the family’s home local authority.

Open event information for September 2026 admissions is also published through Staffordshire’s local authority listings, with an open evening date in late September 2025 and additional daytime opportunities, and the academy repeats the open evening date on its own admissions page.

Because distance and allocation rules can change year to year, families should treat last-year patterns as guidance rather than certainty. Where proximity is relevant, parents should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to check the practical reality of travel time and likely routes, then confirm the current admissions policy wording for the relevant intake year.

Pastoral language on the school website emphasises removing barriers to learning and linking pastoral structures directly to academic success. That framing usually signals a behaviour and attendance model that is intended to be consistent across classrooms, with student services functioning as a core operational team rather than an add-on support function.

Safeguarding is clearly operationalised. A published safeguarding policy identifies named safeguarding roles including the headteacher and designated safeguarding lead.

The latest Ofsted inspection (08 February 2022) judged the school Good, with Good grades across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

The most distinctive extra-curricular feature is the school’s own “Boughey Extra” branding, supported by termly editions of a clubs and activities programme. In practical terms, this reads as an attempt to normalise participation, with activities designed to be accessible, scheduled, and clearly staffed.

Specific examples in the published Boughey Extra materials include Sign Language, Chess, Futsal (in the sports hall), KS4 Board Games, and a lunchtime Let’s cook session that combines food preparation with social time. These are concrete, named offers rather than generic “sports and clubs”, and they matter because they give students multiple entry points into school life, including for those who are not naturally drawn to team sport.

The school also uses calendar-style programming to create shared moments across year groups. For example, Pledge Week 2026 is scheduled for mid-July, indicating a structured enrichment week rather than ad hoc activities.

The published school day runs from 8.40am (line-up and registration) to 3.15pm (end of Period 6), with a 20-minute break and a 40-minute lunch.

Transport-wise, the academy provides bus timetable information through its website and Staffordshire also publishes at least one service timetable that lists arrivals and departures at the academy as timing points. Timetables can change, so parents should confirm the current service in advance of term start, particularly if relying on a single route.

• Below-average progress: A Progress 8 score of -0.46 signals that, on average, students are not making the progress expected from their starting points. Families should explore what targeted support looks like for their child, particularly in English and maths, and how the school monitors catch-up.

• Oversubscription: With 1.54 applications per place in the latest Year 7 entry dataset provided, you should treat admissions as competitive and keep to published deadlines.

• Digital learning expectations: The academy’s iPad approach suggests a digital default for resources and homework. This suits organised students; those who struggle with organisation may need closer parental oversight at home.

• No sixth form: Students will need to make a clear post-16 transition plan. Ask how careers education, guidance interviews, and links to local providers are structured across Years 9 to 11.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy presents as a structured, routines-led 11–16 school with a clearly branded enrichment offer and a strong operational focus on behaviour, attendance, and pastoral systems. The current performance measures place outcomes below England average overall, so the decision is often about fit and trajectory as much as raw results. Best suited to families who want clear expectations, a busy and accessible clubs programme, and a school day that is tightly organised, and who are willing to engage actively with learning habits at home while the school continues its improvement journey.