Longsands Academy
Longsands Road, St Neots, PE19 1LQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Umara Qureshi
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Astrea Academy Trust
- Constituency
- St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,838
- Pupils on roll
- 1,412
- URN
- 136992
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01480353535
About this school
Longsands Academy is a secondary academy in St Neots. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,412 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Longsands Academy, 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 272 | 285 | 275 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.1 | 47.5 | 48.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.11 -0.06 to +0.28 | +0.13 -0.04 to +0.30 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 51.2% | 54.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 71.9% | 72% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 68% | 60.4% | 72% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 |
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 Longsands Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cambridgeshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48.1 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.5 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.5 | 36.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,688 |
| 2023/24 | 1,653 |
| 2024/25 | 1,554 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Longsands Academy compares
Longsands Academy ranked 20th of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.5 | 10.1% | 23.3% | 1,412 | — |
| Ernulf Academy | 40.3 | 10.3% | 32.8% | 720 | 1.4 miles |
| Sandy Secondary School | 40.8 | 8% | 20.2% | 1,259 | 6.7 miles |
| Hinchingbrooke School | 50.3 | 6.9% | 22.6% | 2,173 | 7.0 miles |
| Cambourne Village College | 51.7 | 7.6% | 16.4% | 1,626 | 7.2 miles |
| St Peter's School | 39.6 | 10.8% | 32.7% | 1,506 | 7.9 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)
- 23.27%
- English as an additional language
- 9.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.09%
- Persistent absence
- 22.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ernulf Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · St. Neots
-
Sandy Secondary School6.7 miles
Secondary · Sandy
-
Hinchingbrooke School7.0 miles
Secondary · Huntingdon
-
Cambourne Village College7.2 miles
Secondary · Cambridge
-
St Peter's School7.9 miles
Secondary · Huntingdon
Other schools in St Neots
- Buckden CofE Primary School Primary
- Bushmead Primary School Primary
- Crosshall Infant School Primary
- Crosshall Junior School Primary
- Eynesbury CofE C Primary School Primary
- Great Paxton CofE Primary School Primary
- Great Staughton Primary Academy Primary
- Middlefield Primary Academy Primary
- Offord Primary School Primary
- Priory Junior School Primary
- Priory Park Infant School & Pre-School Primary
- St Mary's Church of England Primary School St Neots Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Longsands Academy teach?
- Longsands Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in St Neots.
- Who is the headteacher of Longsands Academy?
- The headteacher of Longsands Academy is Mrs Umara Qureshi, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Longsands Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Longsands Academy, 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 Longsands Academy?
- Longsands Academy has 1,412 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Longsands Academy full?
- Longsands Academy has capacity for 1,838 pupils and 1,412 on roll (77%), 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 Longsands Academy a faith school?
- No. Longsands Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Longsands Academy a selective school?
- No. Longsands Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Longsands Academy part of an academy trust?
- Longsands Academy is part of ASTREA ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Longsands Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.1 in 2022/23 and 48.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Longsands Academy compare with other schools in Cambridgeshire?
- Longsands Academy ranked 20th of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Longsands Academy's absence rate?
- Longsands Academy's overall absence rate is 10.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Longsands Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Longsands Academy'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.