The Barnes Wallis Academy
Butts Lane, Tattershall, Lincoln, LN4 4PN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST
- Interim Principal
- Miss Charlotte Dunsford
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The David Ross Education Trust
- Constituency
- Louth and Horncastle
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 560
- Pupils on roll
- 483
- URN
- 141166
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01526342379
About this school
The Barnes Wallis Academy is a secondary academy in Lincoln. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 483 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 7 December 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 | 110 | 101 | 104 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.7 | 38.8 | 39.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.12 to +0.42 | -0.58 -0.86 to -0.30 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 20.8% | 26.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 46.5% | 52.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 55% | 51.5% | 50% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 3.7 | 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 Barnes Wallis 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 | Lincolnshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.7 | 42.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.8 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.1 | 39.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 547 |
| 2023/24 | 552 |
| 2024/25 | 509 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Barnes Wallis Academy compares
The Barnes Wallis Academy ranked 38th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% 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 | 39.1 | 9.7% | 42.2% | 483 | — |
| The Banovallum School | 41.9 | 11% | 33.4% | 621 | 7.3 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle | 66.2 | 5.5% | 9.1% | 788 | 7.6 miles |
| William Lovell Church of England Academy | 29.4 | 14.5% | 51.4% | 347 | 7.7 miles |
| Haven High Academy | 31.7 | 11.6% | 37% | 1,229 | 10.4 miles |
| Boston High School | 58.8 | 5.9% | 12.2% | 837 | 10.8 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)
- 42.24%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.74%
- Persistent absence
- 30.47%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Banovallum School7.3 miles
Secondary · Horncastle
-
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Horncastle7.6 miles
Secondary · Horncastle
-
William Lovell Church of England Academy7.7 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
Haven High Academy10.4 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
Boston High School10.8 miles
Secondary · Boston
Other schools in Lincoln
The Barnes Wallis Academy ranks 9th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Lincoln.
- Branston Community Academy Secondary
- Lincoln Castle Academy Secondary
- Lincoln Christ's Hospital School Secondary
- Lincoln UTC Secondary
- North Kesteven Academy Secondary
- Sir Robert Pattinson Academy Secondary
- Sir William Robertson Academy, Welbourn Secondary
- St Peter and St Paul, Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- The Priory Academy LSST Secondary
- The Priory City of Lincoln Academy Secondary
- The Priory Pembroke Academy Secondary
- William Farr CofE Comprehensive School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Barnes Wallis Academy teach?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Lincoln.
- Who is the interim principal of The Barnes Wallis Academy?
- The interim principal of The Barnes Wallis Academy is Miss Charlotte Dunsford, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Barnes Wallis Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Barnes Wallis 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 Barnes Wallis Academy?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy has 483 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Barnes Wallis Academy full?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy has capacity for 560 pupils and 483 on roll (86%), 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 Barnes Wallis Academy a faith school?
- No. The Barnes Wallis Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Barnes Wallis Academy a selective school?
- No. The Barnes Wallis Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Barnes Wallis Academy?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy is part of THE DAVID ROSS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Barnes Wallis Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.7 in 2022/23 and 39.1 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 Barnes Wallis Academy rank locally?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy ranked 38th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% 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 The Barnes Wallis Academy's absence rate?
- The Barnes Wallis Academy's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Barnes Wallis Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Barnes Wallis 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.