Fulwood Academy

About Fulwood Academy

Fulwood Academy’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.37 sits well below the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11 for secondary schools, meaning pupils here make significantly less academic progress between age 11 and 16 than their peers across the county. This places the school in the bottom 50 nationally on that metric, and within Preston it ranks 10th out of 11 schools. The gap is consistent across subjects: Progress 8 in English is -0.13, in maths -0.37, and in the EBacc subjects -0.49. That said, the school’s Attainment 8 score of 37.9 and the fact that 47.4% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths suggest a solid baseline for a school where 42.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The picture is one of a school serving a disadvantaged intake, where outcomes are below the LA norm but not catastrophically so.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2023 rated it Good across all five categories, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in July 2021. The inspection report highlights that behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership, and the quality of education are all now good. On the EBacc, 49.6% of pupils entered the full suite of subjects, but only 11.9% achieved a grade 4 or above in those subjects, and just 6.7% achieved a grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score is 3.31. In the Lancashire rankings, Fulwood sits 59th out of 90 schools of the same type, which places it in the bottom third of the authority. For parents focused on academic outcomes, the data suggests a school that is improving its Ofsted rating but still has ground to make up on progress compared with the wider LA.

Fulwood Academy is a mixed, non-denominational secondary for pupils aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form. It is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 356 applications for 198 places, with 91 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.8. The school has a wide range of facilities including science labs, an astro turf, art studios, a theatre, and a chapel, plus sports such as athletics, swimming, and rowing. Clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Young Enterprise, and debate. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, and social, emotional and mental health needs. This is a school that suits families in Preston who want a local, improving secondary with strong pastoral and extracurricular offerings, and who are comfortable with academic results that are below the LA average but improving from a low base.

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