The Weston Road Academy
Blackheath Lane, Stafford, ST18 0YG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE WESTON ROAD ACADEMY
- Acting Principal
- Mrs Ann Kingman
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,017
- Pupils on roll
- 978
- URN
- 137553
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01785413600
About this school
The Weston Road Academy is a secondary academy in Stafford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 978 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 22 March 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 180 | 161 | 180 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.2 | 46.0 | 44.7 |
| Progress 8 score | 0.00 -0.21 to +0.21 | -0.09 -0.31 to +0.14 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 46% | 46.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 67.1% | 66.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 11% | 13.7% | 21.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
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 The Weston Road 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 | Staffordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.2 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.7 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,002 |
| 2023/24 | 970 |
| 2024/25 | 987 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Weston Road Academy compares
The Weston Road Academy ranked 26th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.7 | 8.2% | 20.3% | 978 | — |
| Walton High School | 50.6 | 5.8% | 8.1% | 1,262 | 1.9 miles |
| Blessed William Howard Catholic School | 52 | 6.3% | 22.2% | 950 | 2.2 miles |
| Sir Graham Balfour High School | 45 | 8.8% | 21.3% | 1,003 | 2.3 miles |
| Stafford Manor High School | 30.6 | 11.4% | 48.1% | 439 | 2.6 miles |
| King Edward VI High School | 33.4 | 7.4% | 34.9% | 646 | 2.6 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)
- 20.31%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 8.18%
- Persistent absence
- 23.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Walton High School1.9 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Blessed William Howard Catholic School2.2 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Sir Graham Balfour High School2.3 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Stafford Manor High School2.6 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
King Edward VI High School2.6 miles
Secondary · Stafford
Other schools in Stafford
The Weston Road Academy ranks 5th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Stafford.
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School Secondary
- King Edward VI High School Secondary
- Sir Graham Balfour High School Secondary
- Stafford Manor High School Secondary
- Walton High School Secondary
- Wolgarston High School Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- All Saints CofE (C) First School Primary
- All Saints CofE Primary School, Bednall Primary
- Anson CofE Primary School Primary
- Barnfields Primary School Primary
- Beaconfields Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Weston Road Academy teach?
- The Weston Road Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Stafford.
- Who is the acting principal of The Weston Road Academy?
- The acting principal of The Weston Road Academy is Mrs Ann Kingman, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Weston Road Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Weston Road 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 big is The Weston Road Academy?
- The Weston Road Academy has 978 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Weston Road Academy full?
- The Weston Road Academy has capacity for 1,017 pupils and 978 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Weston Road Academy a faith school?
- No. The Weston Road Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Weston Road Academy a selective school?
- No. The Weston Road Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Weston Road Academy?
- The Weston Road Academy is part of THE WESTON ROAD ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Weston Road Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.2 in 2022/23 and 44.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Weston Road Academy rank locally?
- The Weston Road Academy ranked 26th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Weston Road Academy's absence rate?
- The Weston Road Academy's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Weston Road Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Weston Road 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.