Riverside Meadows Academy, St. Neots

Requires Improvement
Special
Academy special sponsor led
Mixed
Ages 1118

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Ms Kate Lovegrove
Pupils:120 / 120 capacity
LA:Cambridgeshire
Phone:01223471719
Address:Almond Road, St. Neots, PE19 1DZ
Trust:HORIZONS EDUCATION TRUST
Admissions:Not applicable
Status:open
Opened:1 July 2016

Ofsted Rating

Ofsted · 7 months ago
-

Overall

Inadequate

Quality of Education

Requires Improvement

Behaviour & Attitudes

Requires Improvement

Personal Development

Inadequate

Leadership & Management

Inspected 10 February 2026View full report
URN:142932
UKPRN:10057191
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire
Urban/Rural:Urban: Nearer to a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

The school has strong new leadership that is beginning to make real improvements, particularly at the Wisbech site. Pupils are developing pride in their achievements, behaviour is improving, and reading support is helping many become confident readers. The school has a clear, ambitious vision for what pupils should learn.

Key Strengths

  • New leadership has begun to improve the Wisbech site with better behaviour expectations and a renewed sense of aspiration
  • Recent reading support strategies are helping many pupils become confident, fluent readers
  • Safeguarding practices have been overhauled and are now effective
  • Pupils at Wisbech show pride in their achievements and improved work quality
  • A new ambitious curriculum has been designed with clear end points for learning

Areas for Improvement

  • Teaching is highly variable and often lacks clear explanations; pupils are assigned menial and tedious work
  • The curriculum does not clearly link prior learning to new knowledge, making it difficult for pupils to remember and build on what they learn
  • Staff lack the subject knowledge and teaching skills needed to deliver the curriculum effectively
  • Support for pupils with SEND does not address their specific barriers to learning
  • Attendance strategies do not address individual pupils' barriers, leaving some pupils unsupported
  • The school vision is not clearly communicated to staff, leading to inconsistent implementation across the two sites

Safeguarding

Safeguarding arrangements are effective and have been recently overhauled to ensure the safety of pupils.

Extracurricular Activities

Sports, arts activities

Riverside Meadows Academy is a special school for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs operating across two sites. The school has been rated Inadequate overall, with significant differences in provision and outcomes between the two locations.

At a Glance

74.2%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

Yes

Sixth Form

SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health

SEN Provision

No

Special Measures

What Parents Think

14 responses
Would recommend64%
Child is happy71%
Well taught50%
Good progress57%
Feels safe71%
Well behaved64%
Bullying dealt with50%
Kept informed71%
Handles concerns71%
Wider development71%

Source: Ofsted Parent View - % who strongly agree or agree

Class Sizes

0.0

Avg class size

0

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

Getting There

Train Stations

St Neots Rail Station
918m · 15 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

100%

Over capacity

120 pupils

120 capacity

0 places over capacity

Area Demand Pressure - St. Neots

Low pressure
New homes approved:265
Projected new pupils:48

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for St. Neots

Admissions Demand - Cambridgeshire

Low demand0.95x oversubscription

Places available

7,188

Applications

6,820

Got 1st preference

88.2%

Got preferred school

96.3%

Secondary admissions across Cambridgeshire (2025/26)

Inspection History(4)

10 February 2026
Quality of EducationInadequate
Behaviour & AttitudesRequires Improvement
Personal DevelopmentRequires Improvement
Leadership & ManagementInadequate
24 June 2025
29 March 2023
Requires ImprovementReport
Quality of EducationRequires Improvement
Behaviour & AttitudesRequires Improvement
Personal DevelopmentRequires Improvement
Leadership & ManagementRequires Improvement

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SEN Provision

How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.

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Pupil Demographics

The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.

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Teachers & Staff

Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

31.69762%

Overall absence

62.06897%

Persistent absence

116

Enrolments

Authorised18.2349%
Unauthorised13.46272%
Persistent (10%+)62.06897%
Severe (50%+)29.31034%

Absence trend

24.90481%
18/19
37.90236%
20/21
23.41668%
21/22
31.15055%
22/23
30.56834%
23/24
31.69762%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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