Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy

About Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy

Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy’s headline Progress 8 score of 0.6 places it well above the national average, but the gap is even starker when compared with the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11 for secondary schools. That difference of 0.71 is substantial, and it means pupils here typically achieve nearly three-quarters of a grade more per subject than their peers across the county. The school ranks second out of seven schools in the Lancaster area on this measure, and sits comfortably inside the top 25 per cent of all secondary schools nationally. Its attainment 8 score of 53.9 further reinforces the picture of strong academic performance, with 82.8 per cent of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The school’s Progress 8 banding is officially rated as ‘well above average’, and the confidence interval — ranging from 0.43 to 0.77 — suggests this is a reliable, not fluky, result.

Ofsted’s most recent inspection in December 2022 awarded the school Outstanding across every single category: overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. That’s a clean sweep. The previous inspection, back in 2011, also rated the school Outstanding overall, so this is a sustained track record rather than a one-off. At key stage 5, the picture is more mixed. The school’s value added score of -0.11 is classed as ‘below average’, meaning A-level students on average make slightly less progress than similar pupils nationally. However, the average points per entry of 32.66 equates to a grade of C+, and 8.6 per cent of entries were at AAB or higher. The sixth form is large, with 124 pupils in the data, and the school offers a full range of academic and applied courses.

With 1,733 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,754, Ripley St Thomas is effectively full. It is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 912 applications for 284 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.21. Of 350 first-preference applicants, 279 received offers. The school supports a wide range of special educational needs, including provisions for dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities. Facilities include a chapel, sixth form centre, sports hall, gymnasium, art studios, music rooms, and playing fields. Sports on offer include rowing, martial arts, swimming, and rugby, while clubs range from Model UN and debating to coding and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This is a large, high-performing Church of England academy that suits families looking for strong academic outcomes through to GCSE, with a busy extracurricular programme and a clear Christian character — though the sixth-form value added suggests it’s worth checking subject-level progress for post-16 options.

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