The Gainsborough Academy
Sweyn Lane, Gainsborough, DN21 1PB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WICKERSLEY PARTNERSHIP TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachael Skelton
- Sponsor
- Wickersley Partnership Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Gainsborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 767
- URN
- 145954
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01427612411
About this school
The Gainsborough Academy is a secondary academy in Gainsborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 767 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Gainsborough 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 125 | 106 | 119 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.8 | 29.1 | 38.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.39 -0.64 to -0.14 | -0.81 -1.09 to -0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 18% | 9.4% | 24.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 46% | 22.6% | 47.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 75% | 27.4% | 11.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 2.4 | 3.1 |
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 Gainsborough 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 | 37.8 | 42.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 29.1 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38 | 39.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 700 |
| 2023/24 | 690 |
| 2024/25 | 722 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Gainsborough Academy compares
The Gainsborough Academy ranked 42nd of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% 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 | 38 | 12.8% | 61.4% | 767 | — |
| The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough | 62.5 | 4.9% | 11.2% | 1,139 | 0.9 miles |
| South Axholme Academy | 53.2 | 6.5% | 18.6% | 910 | 8.5 miles |
| Kirton Academy | 36.7 | 11.3% | 47% | 406 | 8.6 miles |
| The Elizabethan Academy | 41.1 | 9.1% | 25.7% | 1,230 | 9.7 miles |
| Retford Oaks Academy | 40.1 | 9.7% | 32.5% | 1,080 | 10.3 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)
- 61.36%
- English as an additional language
- 4.4%
- Overall absence
- 12.79%
- Persistent absence
- 39.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough0.9 miles
Secondary · Gainsborough
-
South Axholme Academy8.5 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
-
Kirton Academy8.6 miles
Secondary · Gainsborough
-
The Elizabethan Academy9.7 miles
Secondary · Retford
-
Retford Oaks Academy10.3 miles
Secondary · Retford
Other schools in Gainsborough
- Kirton Academy Secondary
- The Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough Secondary
- The Gainsborough Nursery School Nursery
- Benjamin Adlard Primary School Primary
- Blyton Cum Laughton Church of England School Primary
- Castle Wood Academy Primary
- Corringham CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Frances Olive Anderson Church of England (Aided) Primary School Primary
- Hemswell Cliff Primary School Primary
- Kirton Lindsey Primary Academy Primary
- Mercer's Wood Academy Primary
- Morton Trentside Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Gainsborough Academy teach?
- The Gainsborough Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Gainsborough.
- Who is the headteacher of The Gainsborough Academy?
- The headteacher of The Gainsborough Academy is Mrs Rachael Skelton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Gainsborough Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Gainsborough 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 The Gainsborough Academy?
- The Gainsborough Academy has 767 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Gainsborough Academy full?
- The Gainsborough Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 767 on roll (64%), 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 Gainsborough Academy a faith school?
- No. The Gainsborough Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Gainsborough Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Gainsborough Academy is part of WICKERSLEY PARTNERSHIP TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Gainsborough Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Gainsborough Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Gainsborough Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.8 in 2022/23 and 38 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 Gainsborough Academy compare with other schools in Lincolnshire?
- The Gainsborough Academy ranked 42nd of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% 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 The Gainsborough Academy's absence rate?
- The Gainsborough Academy's overall absence rate is 12.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Gainsborough Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Gainsborough 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 10 July 2026.