Crispin School Academy Review 2026: A values-led 11 to 16 secondary with breadth, structure, and strong personal development

Crispin School Academy is a large, mixed 11 to 16 academy serving Street and the wider Mid Somerset area, with a published Year 7 admission number of 224 for September 2026 entry. The school’s identity is anchored in three core values, Aspiration, Compassion and Excellence, which appear consistently across school communications and the way expectations are framed for students.

The latest Ofsted inspection, carried out on 23 and 24 May 2023, confirmed that the school remains Good and that safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leadership is currently described as acting, with Lee Cornwall listed as Acting Headteacher on the school website and signing school communications in that role by 10 July 2025.

Crispin’s story in its current form dates back to 1973, when it was created through the amalgamation of two local schools and established on its Church Road site. That heritage matters because it helps explain the school’s scale and the breadth of its offer, it is a setting designed to serve a whole community cohort rather than a narrow intake.

The school’s stated values, Aspiration, Compassion and Excellence, are used as practical reference points rather than decorative slogans. The school explains these in concrete terms, aspiration as doing your best across school and beyond, compassion as focusing on the “we” as well as the “I”, and excellence as aiming high inside and outside the classroom.

Student voice and responsibility are deliberately built in. Ofsted describes pupils as being known as individuals, with strong relationships between pupils and staff, alongside plentiful opportunities for pupils to be leaders and to have their views heard. This emphasis on leadership is also visible in the way transition materials and newsletters are used to communicate directly to incoming families, and in the structured roles the school creates for pupils across year groups.

On GCSE outcomes, the school sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile). It is ranked 1,741st in England and 2nd in Street for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data).

In the most recent dataset snapshot, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 46.5. Progress 8 is -0.22, which indicates students make slightly less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points. EBacc average point score is 4.24, and 18.9% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in the EBacc measure.

For families, the headline here is consistency rather than extremes. Results point to a school delivering solid outcomes, with a clear imperative to keep tightening progress for those who are not yet meeting expectations, especially where attitudes to learning and classroom readiness vary across the cohort.

The curriculum is described in official reporting as broad and interesting, and structured to prepare pupils for next steps. One distinctive element is that pupils study two languages at Key Stage 3, which signals a commitment to breadth early on.

Reading is treated as a school-wide priority, with a programme built around thoughtfully chosen texts and explicit vocabulary development, plus targeted support for pupils who find reading harder, including staff training for phonics delivery where needed. The practical implication is that literacy support is not left to chance or to one department, it is positioned as an entitlement across the school.

A key development point, as identified in the most recent inspection evidence, is the consistency of assessment practice. Where assessment is not checking understanding carefully enough, misconceptions can persist and slow later learning. For parents, that is the question to probe at open events, how departments check learning and how quickly they intervene when pupils fall behind.

Crispin is an 11 to 16 school, so the main transition point is post-16. The school’s wider “Thrive Curriculum” is designed to prepare students for further education, training, and employment, with careers education embedded through lessons and tutor time, and a clear emphasis on pathways and next steps.

Careers provision is described as established, including meaningful work experience in Year 10 and structured encounters with employers and universities. The benefit for students is practical exposure to choices before GCSE decisions harden into narrow routes.

For Year 7 entry in September 2026, applications are made through your home local authority using the Common Application Form. The national closing date for on-time applications is 31 October 2025, and Somerset confirms National Offer Day as 02 March 2026. If you are applying in Somerset, Somerset also publishes a later deadline for exceptional circumstances and supplementary information as 05 December 2025.

Crispin is described as oversubscribed in the latest available admissions snapshot, with 212 applications for 174 offers, which equates to about 1.22 applications per place. This is competitive, but not at the level of the most heavily oversubscribed comprehensives where multiples can be far higher.

For families who want to sense fit before applying, the school typically runs open events in September and October each year, including open mornings and an open evening aimed at Year 6 families. Parents comparing options should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to understand practical travel time and daily logistics, then pressure-test that against the school day and after-school patterns.

Personal development is treated as a central strand rather than an add-on, with the Thrive Curriculum framing wellbeing, inclusion, leadership, and preparation for adult life as interconnected. Students are taught about healthy relationships, mental health, inclusion, diversity, and wider civic expectations in an age-appropriate sequence.

Behaviour is described as typically calm and orderly, supported by clear routines, with the acknowledgement that some pupils find routines harder to manage and can be removed from lessons for a period. This is an important reality check for parents, the school aims high on expectations, and the experience can vary depending on how consistent classrooms are across subjects and groups.

Enrichment is not left to informal volunteering. It is integrated into the Thrive model as a structured entitlement, with an explicit expectation that younger students participate in clubs across the year.

The school publishes detailed enrichment schedules with named activities. Examples include Year 7 Science Club, described as hands-on experiments and projects, and a Year 9 Engineering Club positioned as a taster for GCSE Engineering through practical builds and skill development. Alongside these, schedules also reference clubs such as Sign Language and Board Games, plus sport and activity options across year groups. The implication is that enrichment at Crispin can suit both students who want to extend academic interests and those who need a structured, low-stakes way to build confidence and friendships after the school day.

There is also evidence of competitive STEM activity. Transition materials describe Crispin hosting VEX IQ robotics competition regional qualifiers and fielding its own teams. This matters because it indicates access to applied problem-solving beyond routine lessons, and it tends to attract students who enjoy building, testing, and iterating.

For students who want a longer-form challenge, the school offers the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award at Year 9, positioned as a key part of personal development and wider life skills.

The published school day runs from 8.35am to 3.10pm. Transition materials also set out the rhythm of the day, including registration, five teaching periods, and scheduled break and lunch timings.

As an 11 to 16 secondary, there is not a standard “wraparound care” model in the way parents might expect from a primary school. Where families need early drop-off or consistent after-school supervision, it is sensible to confirm the current offer directly with the school.

Transport planning matters in a rural and semi-rural catchment. School communications indicate that school coaches operate, with a planned departure time change referenced from 05 January 2026.

• Progress measures. A Progress 8 score of -0.22 suggests students, on average, make slightly less progress than similar pupils nationally. This is worth discussing at open events, especially how the school identifies underperformance early and responds at departmental level.

• Consistency of classroom readiness. A minority of pupils do not always meet leaders’ expectations for learning attitudes, and this can affect lesson flow for others. The practical question is how consistently routines and behaviour expectations are applied across subjects.

• No sixth form. Post-16 progression is a real decision point. Families should explore early how the school supports applications, guidance, and transitions into sixth form colleges or training routes.

• Oversubscription, but not extreme. Demand exceeds places in the latest available snapshot. Families should apply on time and use open events to confirm fit, especially if travel logistics are tight.

Crispin School Academy is a solid, values-driven community secondary with a clear structure around personal development and enrichment. Its academic outcomes sit around the middle of England’s performance distribution, with a specific need to keep improving progress and ensuring assessment consistently catches misconceptions early. Best suited to families who want an 11 to 16 school with broad curriculum intent, strong careers and personal development framing, and a published, organised enrichment offer that encourages participation across the year.