Westbourne Academy
Marlow Road, Ipswich, IP1 5JN
This school is open but due to close.
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Martin Higgon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Academy Transformation Trust
- Constituency
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,120
- Pupils on roll
- 989
- URN
- 139288
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473742315
About this school
Westbourne Academy is a secondary academy in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 989 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
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
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Inadequate
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 172 | 211 | 200 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.0 | 41.6 | 39.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.52 to -0.08 | -0.38 -0.58 to -0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 37.9% | 33.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 59.2% | 52% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 20% | 29.9% | 28.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
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 Westbourne 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 | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 40 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.6 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.7 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,027 |
| 2023/24 | 1,068 |
| 2024/25 | 1,038 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Westbourne Academy compares
Westbourne Academy ranked 33rd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.7 | 13% | 39.1% | 989 | — |
| Ormiston Endeavour Academy | 42.8 | 8.8% | 31.8% | 793 | 1.1 miles |
| Chantry Academy | 33.9 | 8.1% | 38.4% | 1,006 | 2.0 miles |
| Claydon High School | 45 | 7.6% | 20.5% | 765 | 2.2 miles |
| Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy | 34.3 | 11.3% | 40.6% | 811 | 2.4 miles |
| Northgate High School | 50.6 | 8.4% | 18.9% | 1,750 | 2.5 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)
- 39.11%
- English as an additional language
- 36.1%
- Overall absence
- 13.04%
- Persistent absence
- 35.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ormiston Endeavour Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Chantry Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Claydon High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Northgate High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
Westbourne Academy ranks 9th of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Ipswich.
- Chantry Academy Secondary
- Claydon High School Secondary
- Copleston High School Secondary
- Hadleigh High School Secondary
- Holbrook Academy Secondary
- Ipswich Academy Secondary
- Kesgrave High School Secondary
- Northgate High School Secondary
- Ormiston Endeavour Academy Secondary
- St Alban's Catholic High School Secondary
- Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Highfield Nursery School Nursery
Recorded changes at this school
- Status changed from open to open_proposed_to_close recorded 14 Jul 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Westbourne Academy teach?
- Westbourne Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the principal of Westbourne Academy?
- The principal of Westbourne Academy is Mr Martin Higgon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Westbourne Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Westbourne 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 Westbourne Academy?
- Westbourne Academy has 989 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Westbourne Academy a faith school?
- No. Westbourne Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Westbourne Academy a selective school?
- No. Westbourne Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Westbourne Academy?
- Westbourne Academy is part of ACADEMY TRANSFORMATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Westbourne Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40 in 2022/23 and 39.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Westbourne Academy rank locally?
- Westbourne Academy ranked 33rd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Westbourne Academy's absence rate?
- Westbourne Academy's overall absence rate is 13% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Westbourne Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Westbourne 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 14 July 2026.