John Whitgift Academy
Crosland Road, Grimsby, DN37 9EH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Robert Spendlow
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Delta Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 998
- Pupils on roll
- 1,070
- URN
- 137464
- Local authority
- North East Lincolnshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01472311080
About this school
John Whitgift Academy is a secondary academy in Grimsby. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,070 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected John Whitgift 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- 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 | 130 | 154 | 159 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.5 | 46.9 | 48.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.10 to +0.39 | +0.22 -0.01 to +0.44 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 42.9% | 56.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 65.6% | 71.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 65% | 44.8% | 36.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
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 John Whitgift 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 | North East Lincolnshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.5 | 33.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.9 | 35.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.1 | 35.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 925 |
| 2023/24 | 1,006 |
| 2024/25 | 1,055 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John Whitgift Academy compares
John Whitgift Academy ranked 2nd of 10 secondary schools in North East Lincolnshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.1 | 5.9% | 41.5% | 1,070 | — |
| Healing Academy | 51 | 5.2% | 14.4% | 751 | 1.3 miles |
| Ormiston Maritime Academy | 33.3 | 14.9% | 58.6% | 786 | 1.7 miles |
| Oasis Academy Wintringham | 35.9 | 14.2% | 53.7% | 852 | 2.7 miles |
| Havelock Academy | 40.8 | 15.2% | 57.6% | 862 | 3.5 miles |
| Beacon Academy | 37.5 | 12.8% | 49.1% | 639 | 3.8 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)
- 41.52%
- English as an additional language
- 5%
- Overall absence
- 5.91%
- Persistent absence
- 16.42%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Healing Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Grimsby
-
Ormiston Maritime Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Grimsby
-
Oasis Academy Wintringham2.7 miles
Secondary · Grimsby
-
Havelock Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Grimsby
-
Beacon Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Cleethorpes
Other schools in Grimsby
John Whitgift Academy ranks 2nd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Grimsby.
- Havelock Academy Secondary
- Healing Academy Secondary
- Humberston Academy Secondary
- Oasis Academy Wintringham Secondary
- Ormiston Maritime Academy Secondary
- Waltham Toll Bar Academy Secondary
- Great Coates Village Nursery School Nursery
- Scartho Nursery School Nursery
- East Ravendale CofE Primary School Academy Primary
- Edward Heneage Primary Academy Primary
- Enfield Academy of New Waltham Primary
- Fairfield Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does John Whitgift Academy teach?
- John Whitgift Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Grimsby.
- Who is the principal of John Whitgift Academy?
- The principal of John Whitgift Academy is Mr Robert Spendlow, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has John Whitgift Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John Whitgift 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 John Whitgift Academy?
- John Whitgift Academy has 1,070 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is John Whitgift Academy full?
- John Whitgift Academy has capacity for 998 pupils and 1,070 on roll (107%), so it is at or above 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 John Whitgift Academy a faith school?
- No. John Whitgift Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is John Whitgift Academy a selective school?
- No. John Whitgift Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is John Whitgift Academy part of an academy trust?
- John Whitgift Academy is part of DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John Whitgift Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.5 in 2022/23 and 48.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John Whitgift Academy compare with other schools in North East Lincolnshire?
- John Whitgift Academy ranked 2nd of 10 secondary schools in North East Lincolnshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John Whitgift Academy's absence rate?
- John Whitgift Academy's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John Whitgift Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Whitgift 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.