Ofsted returns to Unity Academy to check progress after damning 2024 inspection

The school was placed into special measures in 2024 - how have things gone since then?

Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.

In October 2017, Unity Academy was inspected by Ofsted and rated as good. They said that all key areas of the school’s work were good and that was as a direct result of good strong leadership.

By 2022 that has slipped to ‘requires improvement’. A monitoring inspection in November 2023 - where a grade is not issued - said that the leaders were making progress.

But come December 2024, the school’s performance was described as ‘inadequate’ in a number of areas and, as a result, it was placed into special measures.

In March of this year, Ofsted returned to the school for yet another monitoring visit and that is the topic of today’s newsletter.

Blackpool briefing

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Ofsted returns to Unity Academy to check progress after damning 2024 inspection

Unity Academy in Blackpool

By Luke Beardsworth

A school in Blackpool continues to be in special measures after a monitoring inspection found further improvement was necessary.

Unity Academy Blackpool, an all-through school on Warbreck Hill Road and part of the Fylde Coast Academy Trust, was placed into special measures after a damning inspection in December 2024 that found both the quality of education and leadership and management of the school were ‘inadequate’.

That inspection found that all pupils - but especially disadvantaged pupils - do not achieve well as a result of the decline in the quality of education and that trustees and members of the local governing body have not held the school to account.

It said that delivery of the curriculum was weak, that pupils do not develop depth of knowledge, that staff do not rectify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and that pupils do not always demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning.

Ofsted undertook a monitoring inspection on 3-4 March this year and found that effective action has been taken - but more work is needed to remove the school from special measures.

John Connolly, acting headteacher at Unity Academy Blackpool, told The Blackpool Lead: “This report is the best possible outcome that can be achieved in a monitoring inspection and represents significant progress and improvement.

“The school is on track and we are confident of making the required improvements inline with Ofsted’s expectations and timescales.”