The Cornerstone Academy
Blandford Close, Hamworthy, Poole, BH15 4BQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Chris Phillips
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Poole
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 645
- URN
- 139258
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01202676789
About this school
The Cornerstone Academy is a secondary academy in Poole. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 645 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 19 October 2022, 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 | 68 | 116 | 102 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.1 | 40.7 | 41.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.19 -0.15 to +0.54 | -0.03 -0.30 to +0.24 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 31% | 37.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 60% | 58.6% | 59.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 31.9% | 22.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
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 The Cornerstone 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 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.1 | 39.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.7 | 38.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 600 |
| 2023/24 | 668 |
| 2024/25 | 682 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Cornerstone Academy compares
The Cornerstone Academy ranked 19th of 22 secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% 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 | 41 | 12.2% | 40.8% | 645 | — |
| Poole High School | 51 | 8.8% | 20.6% | 1,891 | 1.0 miles |
| Parkstone Grammar School | 68.5 | 5.1% | 6.9% | 1,241 | 2.2 miles |
| St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole | 46.4 | 7.4% | 13.8% | 1,093 | 2.4 miles |
| Magna Academy | 44.3 | 7.9% | 24.8% | 938 | 2.8 miles |
| Poole Grammar School | 70.2 | 5.2% | 5.9% | 1,224 | 2.9 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)
- 40.76%
- English as an additional language
- 18%
- Overall absence
- 12.24%
- Persistent absence
- 34.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Poole High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
Parkstone Grammar School2.2 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole2.4 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
Magna Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
Poole Grammar School2.9 miles
Secondary · Poole
Other schools in Poole
The Cornerstone Academy ranks 7th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Poole.
- Lytchett Minster School Secondary
- Magna Academy Secondary
- Parkstone Grammar School Secondary
- Poole Grammar School Secondary
- Poole High School Secondary
- St Aldhelm's Academy Secondary
- St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole Secondary
- Ad Astra Infant School Primary
- Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior School Primary
- Bayside Academy Primary
- Bishop Aldhelm's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Canford Heath Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Cornerstone Academy teach?
- The Cornerstone Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Poole.
- Who is the headteacher of The Cornerstone Academy?
- The headteacher of The Cornerstone Academy is Mr Chris Phillips, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Cornerstone Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Cornerstone 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 Cornerstone Academy?
- The Cornerstone Academy has 645 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Cornerstone Academy full?
- The Cornerstone Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 645 on roll (72%), 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 The Cornerstone Academy a faith school?
- No. The Cornerstone Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Cornerstone Academy a selective school?
- No. The Cornerstone Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Cornerstone Academy?
- The Cornerstone Academy is part of UNITED LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Cornerstone Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.1 in 2022/23 and 41 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 Cornerstone Academy rank locally?
- The Cornerstone Academy ranked 19th of 22 secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% 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 The Cornerstone Academy's absence rate?
- The Cornerstone Academy's overall absence rate is 12.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Cornerstone Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Cornerstone 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.