The Martin Bacon Academy
Stirling Road, Northstowe, CB24 1DH
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MERIDIAN TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Louise
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Meridian Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 154
- Pupils on roll
- 152
- URN
- 147661
- Local authority
- Cambridgeshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01223340800
About this school
The Martin Bacon Academy is a special academy in Northstowe. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 152 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Martin Bacon Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -6.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -7.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -9.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | 0.9 |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | 0.1 |
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 Martin Bacon 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 | Cambridgeshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 56.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 55.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 57.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 123 |
| 2023/24 | 127 |
| 2024/25 | 136 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 43.61%
- English as an additional language
- 15.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.58%
- Persistent absence
- 26.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Centre School2.4 miles
Academies · Cambridge
-
Gretton School2.6 miles
Special schools · Cambridge
-
Hope Tree School3.1 miles
Special schools · Cambridgeshire
-
The Cavendish School3.2 miles
Free Schools · Impington
-
Red Balloon Learner Centre - Cambridge4.8 miles
Independent schools · Cambridge
Common questions
- What ages does The Martin Bacon Academy teach?
- The Martin Bacon Academy teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Northstowe.
- Who is the headteacher of The Martin Bacon Academy?
- The headteacher of The Martin Bacon Academy is Mrs Sarah Louise, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Martin Bacon Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Martin Bacon 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 Martin Bacon Academy?
- The Martin Bacon Academy has 152 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is The Martin Bacon Academy full?
- The Martin Bacon Academy has capacity for 154 pupils and 152 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The Martin Bacon Academy a faith school?
- No. The Martin Bacon Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Martin Bacon Academy a selective school?
- No. The Martin Bacon Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Martin Bacon Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Martin Bacon Academy is part of MERIDIAN 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 Martin Bacon Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Martin Bacon Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Martin Bacon Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is The Martin Bacon Academy's absence rate?
- The Martin Bacon Academy's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Martin Bacon Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Martin Bacon 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.