Increase in grades at previously "unsafe" Oxford school

A-Level grades have improved at The Oxford Academy following a change of leadership

A school that inspectors had judged to be "unruly, unkind and unsafe" has achieved a large increase in top level A-level results.

The Oxford Academy was rated as inadequate by Ofsted last year and left children "not prepared well enough for life in modern Britain".

An interim board took charge in January and 73.3% of pupils have been awarded grades of A*-C compared to 16% in 2019.

Almost a quarter of pupils achieved A*-A grades, compared to none last year.

'Right direction'

Tony Wilson, chair of the interim academy board, said school leaders were "delighted" with the results of the 20 pupils.

"Making the school somewhere where there are no barriers to students fulfilling their potential was one of the main goals when the interim academy board took over earlier in the year," he said.

"These results are a sign that we are very quickly moving in the right direction."

The 1,068-pupil secondary school was placed in special measures after Ofsted inspectors in November found senior staff had "missed signs" that showed pupils were at risk.

Inspectors said pupils were "scared to use communal areas", while bad behaviour "disrupted daily life" at the school in Littlemore.

The Oxford Diocesan Board of Education, which is one of the school's three sponsors, has agreed with the River Learning Trust to take it into its multi-academy trust.

Andy Hardy was the head teacher at the time of the Ofsted inspection and left on 31 December. He was replaced by a new head teacher David Terry.