The Canterbury Academy, Canterbury

Ofsted's report card from its 6 January 2026 inspection grades The Canterbury Academy on 7 areas: 3 strong standard and 4 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion underpins leaders' decisions and actions in crucial ways."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "The personal development programme is ambitious and taught very well."

Post 16 provision - Strong standard. "This very large sixth form is highly inclusive."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils' overall results in examinations at 16 years old have been below average over time, but are rising."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Pupils' attendance in recent years has been below average but improving, particularly in terms of levels of persistent absence."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "The curriculum is broad, ambitious, well designed and structured effectively."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "School leaders, local governors and trustees all act with great moral purpose and integrity."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should further ensure that all pupils' needs are met fully over time so that they achieve highly, including in national tests and examinations"; "Leaders should continue to increase rates of attendance, including for pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities".

In 2026, pupils at The Canterbury Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 35.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

24% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is down from 39 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.67: pupils made well below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 25.5, against 40 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 14.5 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 31 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 248 families put The Canterbury Academy as their first choice and 844 named it as one of their preferences, for 203 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 70 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Canterbury Academy are The Archbishop's School (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 32.1); Barton Court Grammar School (1.2 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 66.1); Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (1.5 miles, Outstanding, selective, Attainment 8 69.4); and Barton Manor School (1.6 miles).

The Canterbury Academy's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 3 schools.

The Canterbury Academy is one of 2 schools run by The Canterbury Academy Trust, an academy trust.

269 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Canterbury Academy (as of April 2026): 86% would recommend the school, 82% say their child is happy there and 66% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (86%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (66%).

Of the 199 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 81% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 24% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 346 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 29% went on to university or other higher education, 5% to apprenticeships and 36% into work. 2% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (79%) and Mixed (6%).

In 2026, 349 pupils (17.6%) received SEN support and 153 (7.7%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The Canterbury Academy has a resourced provision for hearing impairment, speech, language and communication needs and autism: 62 places, 58 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Canterbury East Rail Station, about 1010 metres away (roughly a 13-minute walk).

8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is The Canterbury Academy (outside), 80 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 472 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Canterbury Academy issued 112 suspensions, 5.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Canterbury Academy are The Canterbury Primary School (0.2 miles), St Peter's Methodist Primary School (0.6 miles), Wincheap Foundation Primary School (0.7 miles) and St Johns Church of England Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.