Outwood Academy Acklam
Hall Drive, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 7JY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Graham Skidmore
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Outwood Grange Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Middlesbrough and Thornaby East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 1,201
- URN
- 139823
- Local authority
- Middlesbrough
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01642818200
About this school
Outwood Academy Acklam is a secondary academy in Middlesbrough. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,201 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 257 | 204 | 204 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.2 | 41.3 | 42.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.61 -0.79 to -0.42 | -0.23 -0.43 to -0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 40.7% | 47.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 61.8% | 65.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 34% | 13.7% | 14.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
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 Outwood Academy Acklam has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Middlesbrough average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.2 | 26.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.3 | 28.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.9 | 28.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,159 |
| 2023/24 | 1,149 |
| 2024/25 | 1,185 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Outwood Academy Acklam compares
Outwood Academy Acklam ranked 4th of 8 secondary schools in Middlesbrough for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.9 | 9.6% | 52.9% | 1,201 | — |
| Trinity Catholic College | 42.6 | 10.1% | 45.1% | 1,270 | 0.6 miles |
| Acklam Grange School | 48.5 | 7.6% | 33.4% | 1,452 | 0.7 miles |
| The King's Academy | 37.9 | 11.5% | 39% | 1,381 | 1.6 miles |
| Macmillan Academy | 47.8 | 9% | 46.6% | 1,586 | 1.7 miles |
| Thornaby Academy | 40.9 | 14.8% | 68% | 443 | 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 52.91%
- English as an additional language
- 32.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.59%
- Persistent absence
- 28.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Trinity Catholic College0.6 miles
Secondary · Middlesbrough
-
Acklam Grange School0.7 miles
Secondary · Middlesbrough
-
The King's Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Middlesbrough
-
Macmillan Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Middlesbrough
-
Thornaby Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Stockton-on-Tees
Other schools in Middlesbrough
Outwood Academy Acklam ranks 5th of the 11 ranked secondary schools in Middlesbrough.
- Acklam Grange School Secondary
- Lift Unity City Secondary
- Macmillan Academy Secondary
- Nunthorpe School & Sixth Form Secondary
- Outwood Academy Normanby Secondary
- Outwood Academy Ormesby Secondary
- Outwood Academy Riverside Secondary
- St Peter's Catholic College Secondary
- The King's Academy Secondary
- Trinity Catholic College Secondary
- Abingdon Primary School Primary
- Acklam Whin Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Outwood Academy Acklam teach?
- Outwood Academy Acklam teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Middlesbrough.
- Who is the principal of Outwood Academy Acklam?
- The principal of Outwood Academy Acklam is Mr Graham Skidmore, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Outwood Academy Acklam last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Outwood Academy Acklam, 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 Outwood Academy Acklam?
- Outwood Academy Acklam has 1,201 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Outwood Academy Acklam full?
- Outwood Academy Acklam has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 1,201 on roll (89%), 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 Outwood Academy Acklam a faith school?
- No. Outwood Academy Acklam has no designated religious character.
- Is Outwood Academy Acklam a selective school?
- No. Outwood Academy Acklam is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Outwood Academy Acklam?
- Outwood Academy Acklam is part of OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Outwood Academy Acklam have?
- The schools register lists Outwood Academy Acklam's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Outwood Academy Acklam's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.2 in 2022/23 and 42.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Outwood Academy Acklam rank locally?
- Outwood Academy Acklam ranked 4th of 8 secondary schools in Middlesbrough for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Outwood Academy Acklam's absence rate?
- Outwood Academy Acklam's overall absence rate is 9.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Outwood Academy Acklam's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Outwood Academy Acklam'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.