Watling Academy - The School Companion

Watling Academy

Milton Keynes · MK8 1EP

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1767 pupils, 24.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 10.4% on SEN support Behaviour 7.9% absence rate Staff 16.1% turnover Financials £6,781 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Watling Academy

General Information

Address: Barrosa Way, Milton Keynes, MK8 1EP – View on map
Phone: 01908794094
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Emma Anderson
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 380 families put it first for 351 places – 11 for every 10 places. 80% of them were offered a place. 1 of the 351 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 15 · 2025 11 · 2026 11
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1767 pupils out of 2250 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 405
% eligible for free school meals: 24.1%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Milton Keynes average)
English as an additional language: 27% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 16.1% a year (Milton Keynes 17%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 54% moved to another school, 46% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Milton Keynes: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 53 (2.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 65 (2.7 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 9 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Milton Keynes, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.9%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.3%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 10.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 40 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 36 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 36 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 32 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 21 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 21 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 4 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 4 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Outstanding 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 50.4
Compared with the area: 5.2 points above the Milton Keynes average (45.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+0.8 points against an expected 49.6)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 78% (Milton Keynes 65%, England 65%)
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

3rd of 14 secondary schools in Milton Keynes for Attainment 8

#1Oakgrove School54.7
#2Denbigh School54.3
#3Watling Academy50.4
#4Kents Hill Park all-through school50.2
#5E-Act Ousedale School49.4

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Oakgrove School54.7
#2Denbigh School54.3
#3Watling Academy50.4
#4Kents Hill Park all-through school50.2
#5E-Act Ousedale School49.4
#6Walton High46.4
#7Shenley Brook End School45.4
#8The Hazeley Academy45.4
#9St Paul's Catholic School44.9
#10The Milton Keynes Academy40.8
#11Lord Grey Academy40.4
#12The Radcliffe School38.2
#13Lift Sir Herbert Leon33.7
#14Stantonbury School32.8

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
Spanish
History
Computer Science
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Sociology
Art & Design
Religious Studies
Sports Studies
Food Technology
D & T
Chinese
Music Studies (General)
Speech & Drama
Arabic
Portuguese
Polish
Turkish
Urdu
Persian Language
Community Development
Business Studies

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

1st of 9 secondary schools in Milton Keynes for Ofsted rating

#1Watling AcademyOutstanding
#2Denbigh SchoolGood
#3E-Act Ousedale SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Watling AcademyOutstanding
#2Denbigh SchoolGood
#3E-Act Ousedale SchoolGood
#4Kents Hill Park all-through schoolGood
#5Oakgrove SchoolGood
#6Shenley Brook End SchoolGood
#7St Paul's Catholic SchoolGood
#8The Hazeley AcademyGood
#9Walton HighGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,781 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

11th of 15 secondary schools in Milton Keynes for spending per pupil

#9Lord Grey Academy£7,070
#10Glebe Farm School£6,975
#11Watling Academy£6,781
#12Oakgrove School£6,680
#13The Hazeley Academy£6,478

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1The Milton Keynes Academy£9,871
#2St Paul's Catholic School£9,086
#3Lift Sir Herbert Leon£8,787
#4The Radcliffe School£8,625
#5Stantonbury School£8,063
#6E-Act Ousedale School£7,363
#7Kents Hill Park all-through school£7,254
#8Denbigh School£7,186
#9Lord Grey Academy£7,070
#10Glebe Farm School£6,975
#11Watling Academy£6,781
#12Oakgrove School£6,680
#13The Hazeley Academy£6,478
#14Shenley Brook End School£6,379
#15Walton High£4,985

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Milton Keynes: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

GCSE Subjects Offered