Beamont Collegiate Academy Review 2026: Community secondary with a strong STEM thread

A secondary in Orford that has put curriculum structure and practical opportunity at the centre of its offer. The current principal, Paul Greenhalgh, took up post on 01 September 2025, following a leadership handover announced to families in July 2025.

The campus story matters here. A move into a new building in 2016 is linked on the school website to specialist spaces for art and performance, engineering, and sport, which aligns with the academy’s emphasis on hands-on learning alongside GCSE preparation. A notable feature is the school’s association with FabLab and wider STEAM activity, with a STEM Centre and FabLab reported as formally opened during British Science Week in March 2020.

The latest Ofsted inspection (5 to 6 July 2022, published 07 October 2022) confirmed the academy continues to be Good.

This is a school that leans into “school as a place to do things”, not only to sit exams. A clear example is the amount of enrichment and project activity linked to FabLab and STEAM events, including coding, robotics, drone flying, virtual reality sessions, and design-and-make tasks that students can take home. The tone this creates is practical, energetic, and outward-looking, with a strong local-community link through partnerships and visiting groups.

Pastoral culture is framed around pupils feeling comfortable and supported. Formal reporting highlights pupils enjoying school, behaving well in lessons and around the site, and taking part in a broad enrichment programme. There is also evidence of deliberate inclusion work in personal development, including an LGBTQ+ club referenced in the school’s official inspection report.

Leadership messaging places teaching quality at the centre. Weekly staff professional development time is built into the timetable, with students starting one hour later on Friday mornings to protect that training slot. For families, the implication is a school that prioritises consistent classroom practice and a shared approach, although it does require a weekly routine adjustment.

Beamont Collegiate Academy is ranked 1,772nd in England and 7th in Warrington for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data). This places performance broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

On headline measures, Attainment 8 is 45.7 and Progress 8 is +0.16, indicating students make above-average progress from their starting points. EBacc average point score is 4.2. GCSE EBacc entries reaching grades 5+ stands at 20%.

For parents comparing local options, the FindMySchool Local Hub pages and the Comparison Tool are useful for viewing GCSE measures side-by-side across nearby Warrington secondaries.

Curriculum design is unusually transparent, with subject-by-subject overviews outlining what is taught by term. In English, Key Stage 3 content includes units such as Gender Through the Ages in Year 7, Resilient Voices Anthology in Year 8, and The Taming of the Shrew in Year 9, helping families understand the mix of heritage texts and contemporary themes.

Mathematics is described as carefully sequenced and “spiralled”, with topics revisited and extended, rather than taught once and left behind. The published Key Stage 3 outline includes early emphasis on sequences, algebraic manipulation, and structured number work in Year 7, building into more complex algebra, graphs, and geometry as pupils move through the key stage.

Reading is treated as a whole-school access issue, not just an English department concern. Formal reporting describes targeted phonics for pupils still at early reading stages, supported by reading material matched to sounds being learned, alongside a well-resourced library used to extend reading habits. The practical implication is that weaker readers are not left to struggle quietly, which matters in a secondary where reading load increases sharply from Year 7.

As an 11 to 16 school, Beamont’s main transition point is post-16. Official reporting describes careers education as very effective, with careers advice running from Year 7 to Year 11 and frequent careers fairs, strengthened by local businesses and colleges, with most pupils moving on to appropriate further education, employment, or training.

The most useful question for families is often not “university or not”, but “what practical pathways are supported for my child”. Here, the evidence points to structured careers guidance and exposure to employers and providers, plus a curriculum that includes vocational options alongside academic routes.

Admissions are coordinated through Warrington Borough Council, rather than directly with the academy. The published admission number (PAN) is 180 for Year 7.

For September 2026 entry, Warrington’s published timeline lists applications opening on 01 September 2025, closing on 31 October 2025, with offers issued on 02 March 2026. Open events for that entry cycle included an open evening on Thursday 02 October 2025 (5pm to 7.30pm) and open mornings by appointment on 03, 06, and 07 October 2025, which suggests an established early-October pattern families can usually expect each year (confirm exact dates with the school as they can change).

Oversubscription is real. In the National Offer Day 2025 allocation table, Beamont shows PAN 180, “Oversubscribed: Yes”, and the last allocated place recorded under criterion 5 at 0.923 miles. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place.

The oversubscription criteria published by the local authority materials prioritise, in order, looked-after and previously looked-after children, siblings, medical or psychological grounds (with evidence), children of staff (in specified circumstances), pupils attending named partner primary schools, then distance from home to school measured as a straight line using the local address point system. Parents can use FindMySchoolMap Search to check their precise distance against prior cut-offs, bearing in mind these change year to year.

The school’s formal reporting describes pupils as happy and friendly, with positive attitudes to learning and calm behaviour around the site. Safeguarding is described as a strong culture with frequent staff training and effective links to local services. This matters because it signals a system approach rather than reliance on one team or one leader.

SEND practice is positioned as mainstreamed rather than separated. Official reporting states pupils with SEND are identified quickly, staff have useful information to meet needs, and pupils with SEND have access to the full curriculum. For families, the implication is that support is intended to remove barriers to subject access, not narrow the timetable by default.

A further wellbeing indicator is staff workload management. Formal reporting includes staff feedback that workload is considered carefully, with assessment policy changes cited as reducing burden. While this is an internal measure, it tends to correlate with stability and consistency for pupils, because staff have capacity to plan and teach well.

The distinctive strand here is STEM and making. School publications describe large-scale STEAM events involving coding, Stop Motion animation, flying drones, controlling robots, Minecraft, VR technology, and problem-solving activities such as programming Spheros through a purpose-built maze. This is not just “there are clubs”. It is an ecosystem that blends enrichment with equipment, space, and adult expertise, which can be highly motivating for pupils who learn best by building and testing.

FabLab activity reinforces that practical theme, including references to CAD design, sublimation printing, and technology-led workshops. The implication is that pupils can connect classroom concepts to tangible outcomes, which is often where engagement and confidence improve, especially for students who do not define themselves purely through written work.

There is breadth beyond STEM. School publications reference a creative writing enrichment group and an annual creative writing recital, showing that performance and writing have structured opportunities too. A cadet offer is also referenced, adding a different route for pupils who value team structure, leadership, and service-style activities.

The principal also describes a Wednesday extended-day enrichment model that has included horse riding, drone flying, first aid training, and learning British Sign Language. For families, that can be a major plus, particularly if after-school time needs to be purposeful, but it is worth understanding how it works week-to-week for your child.

The academy publishes a weekly total of 30.5 hours for the academy day. A routine feature is the later start on Friday mornings, linked to staff professional development time.

For travel planning, the most pragmatic step is to map the home-to-school journey and then check it against historic allocation distances where applicable. Parents relying on proximity should combine the FindMySchoolMap Search with Warrington’s published allocation information, and keep in mind that thresholds shift annually.

• Competition for places. The National Offer Day 2025 table shows Beamont as oversubscribed, with the last allocated place recorded at 0.923 miles under criterion 5. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place.

• Weekly routine differences. Friday starts are one hour later than usual to protect staff professional development time. This is a sensible quality lever, but families need to plan transport and supervision around that weekly change.

• Enrichment expectations. The model includes a structured extended enrichment offer, including Wednesday activity time referenced by leadership communications. This will suit pupils who enjoy busy weeks, but some children may need support managing energy and organisation across longer days.

Beamont Collegiate Academy presents as a grounded, community secondary with a practical streak, strong emphasis on teaching consistency, and a distinctive STEM-and-making offer that goes beyond token clubs. GCSE outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle of England schools, with above-average progress, which is often a more reassuring sign for families than a single attainment headline.

Best suited to families seeking a local 11 to 16 school with structured careers guidance, visible enrichment, and practical opportunities alongside GCSE preparation, and who are realistic about the admissions pressure in some years.