Cowley Academy
School Lane, Spalding, PE11 4TF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Katherine Kilby
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- South Lincolnshire Academies Trust
- Constituency
- South Holland and The Deepings
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 650
- Pupils on roll
- 621
- URN
- 149436
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Telephone
- 01775820254
About this school
Cowley Academy is a secondary academy in Spalding. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 621 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
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
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 114 | 127 | 125 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.4 | 43.0 | 36.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.08 -0.19 to +0.34 | -0.12 -0.37 to +0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 22% | 29.9% | 16.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42% | 55.1% | 34.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 22% | 4.7% | 4.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
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 Cowley 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 | 39.4 | 42.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43 | 41.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.5 | 39.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 614 |
| 2023/24 | 629 |
| 2024/25 | 627 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cowley Academy compares
Cowley Academy ranked 47th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.5 | 8.9% | 35.9% | 621 | — |
| Thomas Middlecott Academy | 32.1 | 11% | 37.7% | 612 | 6.0 miles |
| Spalding Grammar School | 58.8 | 4.9% | 10.4% | 1,023 | 8.6 miles |
| Spalding Academy | 45.3 | 7.1% | 26.6% | 1,486 | 8.6 miles |
| Spalding High School | 63 | 5.5% | 11.7% | 970 | 8.8 miles |
| The Boston Grammar School | 53.1 | 5.8% | 14% | 924 | 8.8 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)
- 35.89%
- English as an additional language
- 6.2%
- Overall absence
- 8.88%
- Persistent absence
- 27.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Thomas Middlecott Academy6.0 miles
Secondary · Boston
-
Spalding Grammar School8.6 miles
Secondary · Spalding
-
Spalding Academy8.6 miles
Secondary · Spalding
-
Spalding High School8.8 miles
Secondary · Spalding
-
The Boston Grammar School8.8 miles
Secondary · Boston
Other schools in Spalding
Cowley Academy ranks 5th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Spalding.
- Spalding Academy Secondary
- Spalding Grammar School Secondary
- Spalding High School Secondary
- University Academy Holbeach Secondary
- University Academy Long Sutton Secondary
- Clough and Risegate Community Primary School Primary
- Deeping St Nicholas Primary School Primary
- Fleet Wood Lane School Primary
- Gedney Church End Primary Academy Primary
- Gedney Drove End Primary School Primary
- Gosberton Academy Primary
- Holbeach Bank Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cowley Academy teach?
- Cowley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Spalding.
- Who is the headteacher of Cowley Academy?
- The headteacher of Cowley Academy is Mrs Katherine Kilby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cowley Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cowley 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 Cowley Academy?
- Cowley Academy has 621 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Cowley Academy full?
- Cowley Academy has capacity for 650 pupils and 621 on roll (96%), 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 Cowley Academy a faith school?
- No. Cowley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Cowley Academy?
- Cowley Academy is part of SOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Cowley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.4 in 2022/23 and 36.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cowley Academy rank locally?
- Cowley Academy ranked 47th of 54 secondary schools in Lincolnshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cowley Academy's absence rate?
- Cowley Academy's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cowley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cowley 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 3 July 2026.