Magna Academy
Ashdown Close, Adastral Road, Poole, BH17 8RE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ASPIRATIONS ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Philip Midworth
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Aspirations Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Mid Dorset and North Poole
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 938
- URN
- 139711
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01202604222
About this school
Magna Academy is a secondary academy in Poole. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 938 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Magna 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
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
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 176 | 175 | 175 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.8 | 44.9 | 44.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.26 -0.47 to -0.04 | -0.09 -0.30 to +0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 31% | 38.3% | 41.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 60.6% | 66.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 10% | 53.1% | 42.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
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 Magna 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 | 40.8 | 39.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.9 | 38.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.3 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 946 |
| 2023/24 | 960 |
| 2024/25 | 966 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Magna Academy compares
Magna Academy ranked 16th of 22 secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.3 | 7.9% | 24.8% | 938 | — |
| Poole Grammar School | 70.2 | 5.2% | 5.9% | 1,224 | 0.7 miles |
| St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole | 46.4 | 7.4% | 13.8% | 1,093 | 0.8 miles |
| Parkstone Grammar School | 68.5 | 5.1% | 6.9% | 1,241 | 0.9 miles |
| St Aldhelm's Academy | 33.6 | 13% | 45.8% | 808 | 1.5 miles |
| Poole High School | 51 | 8.8% | 20.6% | 1,891 | 1.8 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)
- 24.77%
- English as an additional language
- 14.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.92%
- Persistent absence
- 23.92%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Poole Grammar School0.7 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole0.8 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
Parkstone Grammar School0.9 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
St Aldhelm's Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Poole
-
Poole High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Poole
Other schools in Poole
Magna Academy ranks 6th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Poole.
- Lytchett Minster School 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
- The Cornerstone Academy 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 ages does Magna Academy teach?
- Magna Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Poole.
- Who is the headteacher of Magna Academy?
- The headteacher of Magna Academy is Mr Philip Midworth, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Magna Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Magna 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 Magna Academy?
- Magna Academy has 938 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Magna Academy full?
- Magna Academy has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 938 on roll (85%), 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 Magna Academy a faith school?
- No. Magna Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Magna Academy a selective school?
- No. Magna Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Magna Academy part of an academy trust?
- Magna Academy is part of ASPIRATIONS ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Magna Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.8 in 2022/23 and 44.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Magna Academy compare with other schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?
- Magna Academy ranked 16th of 22 secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Magna Academy's absence rate?
- Magna Academy's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Magna Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Magna 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.