The Gainsborough Academy

About The Gainsborough Academy

Just over half of parents who applied for a place at The Gainsborough Academy for the 2025/26 school year made it their first choice, with 142 first-preference applications for 167 total places. The school was oversubscribed, receiving 184 applications overall, giving a ratio of 1.1 applicants per place. That modest level of competition suggests a school that local families are willing to consider but not one that is heavily fought over. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in July 2024, rated it as Requires Improvement across the board — overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all scored 3. That’s an improvement on the previous inspection in September 2022, which had rated it Inadequate, with behaviour and attitudes also marked at 4. So while the school is still not where it needs to be, the direction of travel is upward, and the leadership team under headteacher Rachael Skelton has at least arrested the decline.

Academically, the picture is challenging. The school’s Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year was -0.81, which is well below average nationally and ranks it 7th out of 7 secondary schools in West Lindsey — bottom of the local authority. That score is significantly worse than the Lincolnshire LA average of -0.06. The Attainment 8 score sits at 29.1, and only 22.6% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is 27.4%, but just 1.9% of pupils entered the full EBacc and achieved a grade 5 or above. The school’s EBacc average point score is 2.42. Across the East Midlands, it ranks 261st out of 273 schools, and nationally it sits in the bottom 7% of all schools by Progress 8. With 60.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a significantly disadvantaged intake, and the data suggests it is not yet closing the gap for those pupils.

The Gainsborough Academy is an 11-16 mixed state secondary with no sixth form, so families will need to plan for post-16 provision elsewhere. It has a strong range of facilities for a school of its size — a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, tennis courts, and a full suite of science labs and ICT suites. Sports on offer include hockey, rowing, martial arts, and rugby, and there are clubs running from chess and coding to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Young Enterprise. The school’s SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties, autism, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities, which will be important given the high proportion of pupils with additional needs typical of a school with this FSM rate. For families weighing up their options in West Lindsey, this is a school that has stabilised after a poor inspection but still has a long way to go on outcomes. It will suit parents who value the improving trajectory and the breadth of extracurricular offer, and who are prepared to be closely involved in supporting their child’s academic progress.

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