South Shore Academy
St Annes Road, Blackpool, FY4 2AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mr Neil Kay
- Sponsor
- Cidari Trust
- Constituency
- Blackpool South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 985
- Pupils on roll
- 550
- URN
- 151443
- Local authority
- Blackpool
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01253336500
About this school
South Shore Academy is a secondary academy in Blackpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 550 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
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
- Inadequate
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Inadequate
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Inadequate
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as South Shore Academy (URN 140021).
How South Shore Academy compares
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 | — | 12.6% | 63.5% | 550 | — |
| Highfield Leadership Academy | 30 | 16.4% | 56% | 751 | 0.8 miles |
| St George's School A Church of England Academy | 55.5 | 5.5% | 33.6% | 1,038 | 1.2 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Academy | 41.5 | 7.9% | 37.1% | 1,188 | 2.3 miles |
| Blackpool Aspire Academy | 36.7 | 9.6% | 66.5% | 799 | 3.1 miles |
| Baines School | 45.8 | 8.5% | 31.6% | 726 | 3.4 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)
- 63.54%
- English as an additional language
- 18.1%
- Overall absence
- 12.62%
- Persistent absence
- 40.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Highfield Leadership Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
St George's School A Church of England Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
St Mary's Catholic Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
Blackpool Aspire Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
Baines School3.4 miles
Secondary · Poulton-le-Fylde
Other schools in Blackpool
- Blackpool Aspire Academy Secondary
- Highfield Leadership Academy Secondary
- Montgomery Academy Secondary
- St George's School A Church of England Academy Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic Academy Secondary
- Baines' Endowed Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackpool Gateway Academy Primary
- Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackpool St Nicholas CofE Primary School Primary
- Boundary Primary School Primary
- Christ The King Catholic Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does South Shore Academy teach?
- South Shore Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Blackpool.
- Who is the headteacher of South Shore Academy?
- The headteacher of South Shore Academy is Mr Neil Kay, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was South Shore Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected South Shore 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 South Shore Academy?
- South Shore Academy has 550 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is South Shore Academy full?
- South Shore Academy has capacity for 985 pupils and 550 on roll (56%), 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 South Shore Academy a faith school?
- No. South Shore Academy has no designated religious character.
- Who runs South Shore Academy?
- South Shore Academy is part of CIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What is South Shore Academy's absence rate?
- South Shore Academy's overall absence rate is 12.6% in the latest published census.
- Does South Shore Academy publish exam results?
- OfferDay shows exam results for a school only where the Department for Education has published them, and none are shown for South Shore Academy. That is usual for infant, nursery, special and independent schools, and for schools without recent published results.
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.