City Academy Norwich
299 Bluebell Road, Norwich, NR4 7LP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Jo Franklin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Sapientia Education Trust
- Constituency
- Norwich South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 674
- URN
- 135904
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- Website
- School website
About this school
City Academy Norwich is a secondary academy in Norwich. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 674 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected City Academy Norwich, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 123 | 142 | 135 |
| Attainment 8 score | 34.0 | 32.2 | 35.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.70 -0.96 to -0.43 | -0.75 -0.99 to -0.51 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 19.7% | 29.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 47% | 45.1% | 47.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 10.6% | 8.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How City Academy Norwich has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Norfolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 34 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.2 | 39.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.2 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 699 |
| 2023/24 | 699 |
| 2024/25 | 682 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How City Academy Norwich compares
City Academy Norwich ranked 53rd of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.2 | 11.7% | 53.7% | 674 | — |
| City of Norwich School, An Ormiston Academy | 50.4 | 9% | 28.5% | 1,685 | 1.6 miles |
| Jane Austen College | 53.7 | 6.9% | 29.3% | 1,085 | 1.9 miles |
| Hewett Academy | 46.5 | 5.5% | 37% | 543 | 2.0 miles |
| Notre Dame High School, Norwich | 61.3 | 5.5% | 14.3% | 1,613 | 2.1 miles |
| Ormiston Victory Academy | 45.3 | 8.2% | 28.4% | 1,517 | 2.2 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 53.67%
- English as an additional language
- 22.7%
- Overall absence
- 11.69%
- Persistent absence
- 28.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
City of Norwich School, An Ormiston Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Norwich
-
Jane Austen College1.9 miles
Secondary · Norwich
-
Hewett Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Norwich
-
Notre Dame High School, Norwich2.1 miles
Secondary · Norwich
-
Ormiston Victory Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Norwich
Other schools in Norwich
City Academy Norwich ranks 22nd of the 22 ranked secondary schools in Norwich.
- Acle Academy Secondary
- Aylsham High School Secondary
- Broadland High Ormiston Academy Secondary
- City of Norwich School, An Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Framingham Earl High School Secondary
- Hellesdon High School Secondary
- Hethersett Academy Secondary
- Hewett Academy Secondary
- Hobart High School Secondary
- Jane Austen College Secondary
- Long Stratton High School Secondary
- Notre Dame High School, Norwich Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does City Academy Norwich teach?
- City Academy Norwich teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Norwich.
- Who is the principal of City Academy Norwich?
- The principal of City Academy Norwich is Mrs Jo Franklin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has City Academy Norwich been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected City Academy Norwich, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at City Academy Norwich?
- City Academy Norwich has 674 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is City Academy Norwich full?
- City Academy Norwich has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 674 on roll (61%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is City Academy Norwich a faith school?
- No. City Academy Norwich has no designated religious character.
- Is City Academy Norwich a selective school?
- No. City Academy Norwich is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is City Academy Norwich part of an academy trust?
- City Academy Norwich is part of SAPIENTIA EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have City Academy Norwich's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 34 in 2022/23 and 35.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does City Academy Norwich compare with other schools in Norfolk?
- City Academy Norwich ranked 53rd of 53 secondary schools in Norfolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is City Academy Norwich's absence rate?
- City Academy Norwich's overall absence rate is 11.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are City Academy Norwich's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, City Academy Norwich's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.