Thomas Clarkson Academy
Corporation Road, Wisbech, PE13 2SE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE BROOKE WESTON TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Matthew Dobbing
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Brooke Weston Trust
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- North East Cambridgeshire
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,440
- Pupils on roll
- 1,295
- URN
- 137867
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01945585237
About this school
Thomas Clarkson Academy is a secondary academy in Wisbech. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,295 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
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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 222 | 231 | 255 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.0 | 36.9 | 37.4 |
| Progress 8 score | 0.00 -0.19 to +0.19 | -0.23 -0.41 to -0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 24.2% | 28.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 50.6% | 51.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
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 Thomas Clarkson 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 | 37 | 38.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.9 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.4 | 36.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,384 |
| 2023/24 | 1,393 |
| 2024/25 | 1,349 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thomas Clarkson Academy compares
Thomas Clarkson Academy ranked 33rd of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.4 | 10.9% | 41.4% | 1,295 | — |
| The Wisbech Academy | — | 10.6% | 40.2% | 205 | 0.3 miles |
| Marshland High School | 45.5 | 8.1% | 27% | 821 | 3.0 miles |
| Neale-Wade Academy | 34.8 | 10% | 38.4% | 1,130 | 8.8 miles |
| St Clement's High School | 45.3 | 8.7% | 27.5% | 704 | 9.2 miles |
| University Academy Long Sutton | 32.4 | 10.7% | 41% | 708 | 9.7 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report29 January 2025
- 21 January 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.4%
- English as an additional language
- 30.1%
- Overall absence
- 10.85%
- Persistent absence
- 32.2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Wisbech Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · Wisbech
-
Marshland High School3.0 miles
Secondary · Wisbech
-
Neale-Wade Academy8.8 miles
Secondary · March
-
St Clement's High School9.2 miles
Secondary · King's Lynn
-
University Academy Long Sutton9.7 miles
Secondary · Spalding
Other schools in Wisbech
- Marshland High School Secondary
- The Wisbech Academy Secondary
- Emneth Nursery School Nursery
- Alderman Payne Primary School Primary
- Anthony Curton CofE Primary School Primary
- Beaupre Community Primary School Primary
- Clarkson Infants School Primary
- Elm CofE Primary School Primary
- Elm Road Primary School Primary
- Emneth Academy Primary
- Friday Bridge Community Primary School Primary
- Gorefield Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Thomas Clarkson Academy teach?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Wisbech.
- Who is the principal of Thomas Clarkson Academy?
- The principal of Thomas Clarkson Academy is Mr Matthew Dobbing, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Thomas Clarkson Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thomas Clarkson 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 Thomas Clarkson Academy?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy has 1,295 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Thomas Clarkson Academy full?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy has capacity for 1,440 pupils and 1,295 on roll (90%), 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 Thomas Clarkson Academy a faith school?
- No. Thomas Clarkson Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Thomas Clarkson Academy a selective school?
- No. Thomas Clarkson Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Thomas Clarkson Academy?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy is part of THE BROOKE WESTON TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Thomas Clarkson Academy have?
- The schools register lists Thomas Clarkson Academy's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Thomas Clarkson Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37 in 2022/23 and 37.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thomas Clarkson Academy rank locally?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy ranked 33rd of 34 secondary schools in Cambridgeshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Thomas Clarkson Academy's absence rate?
- Thomas Clarkson Academy's overall absence rate is 10.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thomas Clarkson Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thomas Clarkson 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.