kinplaceWhere your family goes next
Start free
New to this? Read:Reading an Ofsted report, and the new report cardsReading league tables and school resultsAll guides
State secondary · 11 to 18 · Mixed · 631 pupils

Sandymoor Ormiston Academy

Sandymoor Ormiston Academy, Wharford Lane, Runcorn, WA7 1QU · Halton
Compare
Ofsted: Good · April 2024Top 25% (2/8)Oversubscribed · 1.1 first choices per place (2026)
School website ↗Google Maps ↗Directions ↗Ofsted reports ↗DfE results ↗Government register ↗

Summary

The key facts, in one place
GCSE (key stage 4) The league rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase on the newest year's DfE results, the same rank as on the Schools map. In England: 2,128th of 3,223 on the same figure. Band: Top 25%.
Top 25% (2/8)Rank among 8 Halton secondaries with results, 2026 results (Attainment 8)
See the Halton league table →
Inspection
Good, April 2024
Getting in
Oversubscribed; last offer 2.66 mi (2026)
Results
-0.48 progress 8; 43.2 attainment 8
Size
631 pupils; 148 places a year; classes of 24
Run by
Ormiston Academies Trust
Type
Free schools
Ages
11 to 18 · Mixed
Strengths, and things to check
  • Attainment 8: 43.2, against 41.1 in Halton.
  • Sessions missed: 9.1%, against 10.6% in Halton.
  • Progress 8: -0.48, against -0.42 in Halton.
  • Oversubscribed: 1.1 first choices for each place (Year 7 2026).
Could your child get in?Offers reached between 1.38 and 2.66 miles in the last 4 years we hold. Enter your postcode to see where your home falls.Check a postcode ↓ Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

Against Halton and England
This schoolHaltonEnglandHover or tap a bar for the figures
Academic
Progress 8How far pupils progressed between the end of primary school and GCSEs, against pupils across England who started at the same level. 0 is average; +0.5 means half a grade better in each subject.
-0.48
Worse than Halton
Attainment 8The average GCSE score across eight subjects, including English and maths counted twice. A grade 5 in all eight would score 50.
43.2
Better than Halton
English and maths, grade 5+The share of pupils with grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE (a strong pass).
37%
In line with Halton
Attendance and behaviour
Sessions missedHalf-day sessions missed, authorised or not, as a share of all sessions in the school year (DfE pupil absence). Lower is better.
9.1%
Better than Halton
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
25.9%
Better than Halton
Suspensions per 100 pupilsSuspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Lower is better; one or two incidents move a small school a lot.
12.5
Better than Halton
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
24.3
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
29%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
16.5
Context
Demand for places
First choices per placeFamilies who put this school first, for each Year 7 place in 2026 (DfE applications and offers). Above 1 means more first choices than places.
1.1
More sought after than Halton
Halton and England: DfE's own averages for results. For the rest, the middle state secondary school of the same phase, from every school we hold, since DfE publishes no council figure we hold.Where these figures come from →
COULD YOUR CHILD GET IN? · YEAR 7 2027

Offers reached between 1.38 and 2.66 miles in the last 4 years we hold. Enter your postcode to see where your home falls.

Bars: how far the last place offered reached each year. Check your postcode and each year turns green where a place reached your home. Source: Halton Borough Council offer-day figures, 2023 to 2026.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.

Offers

How far offers reached

How far away the last child offered a place under the distance rule lived, as the council measures it. It changes every year with who applies: a record, not a promise. Children with a higher priority can be offered places from further away.

Year 7. Distance of the last child offered a place on offer day. What the last distance means →

Last distance offeredAdd your home to this chart
3 mi1.50
2023202420252026

Offer day, year by year

EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Year 72026150—150—2.66
Year 72025120—120—1.78
Year 72024120—120—1.69
Year 72023120—120—1.38

Source: Council offer-day figures: Halton Borough Council, 2023 to 2026. A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought. Distances are straight lines from the school.

Could you get in?Enter a home or postcode: we set it against every year's last offer and this school's rules.

Results

Quality

  • Good Ofsted · inspected 17 April 2024
  • Progress 8: -0.48 (England +0.01) (county -0.42) DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024
  • Attainment 8: 43.2 (England 47.4) (county 41.1) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • English and maths grade 5 or above: 37% (England 48%) (county 36%) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • Progress, set against pupils who started with the same results: below average DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024

Results

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Progress 8-0.48+0.01-0.422023/2024
Attainment 843.247.441.12025/2026
English and maths grade 5 or above37%48%36%2025/2026

Source: DfE school performance tables, 2023/2024, 2025/2026.

League table place

TableLeague rank
GCSE (key stage 4)Top 25% (2/8)

Source: DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase.

Where leavers go

StageLeavers inPupilsIn a sustained placeOf which
After GCSEs2023/2411694%In education 83%; Apprenticeship 6.0%; Employment 5.2%
After GCSEs2022/2310187%In education 79%; Apprenticeship 5.0%; Employment 3.0%
After GCSEs2021/229193%In education 89%; Apprenticeship 1.1%; Employment 3.3%

Source: DfE, destination measures. A figure DfE hides for a small group is left out, not shown as nought. The newest year may be provisional.

Halton league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life and who goes there

Daily life

  • Absence: 9.1% of sessions missed; 26% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 8.5% and 24% DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
  • Suspensions: 13 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 17); 0 permanent exclusions DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
  • Classes average 24.3 pupils; 30% of classes have more than 30 DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
  • 16.5 pupils for each teacher DfE, school workforce · November 2025
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: bus 342 m DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
  • 0 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 0 serious) DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 9.1 µg/m³, PM2.5 6.4 (1 km square, background level) DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

Absence

YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/259.1%3.6%5.5%26%3.7%
2023/249.7%4.0%5.7%29%4.8%
2022/239.1%3.9%5.2%29%3.9%
Schools with a similar intake8.5%24%

Source: DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25. Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (20-30%), the median of 896 schools.

Suspensions and exclusions

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/2512.55.5%750
2023/247.94.5%474
2022/2315.16.8%914
Schools with a similar intake16.8

Source: DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level, 2024-25.

Class sizes and staff

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size24.32025/26
Classes over 30 pupils30%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher16.5November 2025

Source: DfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

Stops nearby

KindNearest (metres, straight line)
bus342

Source: DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current. A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.

Road collisions within 500 m

YearCollisions
20250
20240
20230
20220
20210

Source: DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025. 0 serious and 0 fatal in all; 0 involved a pedestrian, 0 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.

Air quality

PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO29.12024
PM1010.52024
PM256.42024

Source: DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps. A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.

Who goes there

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals29%2025/26
First language other than English4.6%2025/26
SEN support13%2025/26
Education, health and care plan4.1%2025/26
Girls50%2025/26

Source: DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

Ofsted

Ofsted, April 2024The judgements from the school's latest inspection. Reports from November 2025 use Ofsted's new report card, with different headings; we show whichever the latest report uses.Read the report ↗
Quality of educationGood
Behaviour and attitudesGood
Leadership and managementGood

Inspections

DateKindOutcome
17 April 2024Graded inspectionGood

Source: Ofsted, 2024.

Admissions

Getting in

  • 158 families put it first for 148 places; 147 of them got in DfE, school applications and offers · Year 7 2026
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.

Applications and offers, DfE

EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Year 72026148158312147
Year 72025118125260113
Year 72024115131229111
Year 72023119143263114
Year 72022136133227126
Year 72021117133203112
Year 72020917515175

Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2020 to 2026. Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.

Feeder school rules

We found no priority for named primary schools in the arrangements for 2027/28 (the document). Our tools read it, but nobody has read it line by line.

Quoted word for word from the arrangements the school or council published. Check the quote against the school's own current admission policy before you rely on it: rules change each year.

Who runs it

  • Ormiston Academies Trust, with 44 schools DfE, Get Information about Schools: group links · joined December 2019
  • Opened as an academy (free schools) on 1 December 2019 DfE, open academies list
  • Replaced Sandymoor (URN 138198) DfE, Get Information about Schools: links · 1 December 2019
  • We can't compare results before and after it converted: we hold results for only one side of the date, because DfE publishes a few years at a time.

Fees and clubs

State schools charge no tuition fees. Breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and holiday clubs are set by each school: ask the school what it runs and what it costs.

Childcare costsWhat wraparound care and early years places cost, and what funding covers.See costs →

Nearby

Schools nearby

Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy1.8 miThe Grange School2.5 miBlessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy2.6 miThe Heath School3.2 miCompare side by side →

Nurseries nearby

Partou Little Manor Day Nursery & Pre-School0.4 miles
Windmill Hill Nursery0.7 miles
Sunshine Under 5's0.9 miles
Source: Ofsted early years register.
Homes in reach of this schoolLook up any home near here: its sales, an open-data valuation, and which schools it keeps in reach.Search homes →

Sources

  • Council offer-day figures: Halton Borough Council
  • DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps
  • DfE school performance tables
  • DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase
  • DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence)
  • DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level
  • DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level
  • DfE, destination measures
  • DfE, school workforce; school census
  • DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs
  • DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes)
  • DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years
  • Ofsted
  • School register: DfE Get Information about Schools (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in Runcorn and the Halton league table. School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. How we know · All sources.