UK Schools
Cowley Academy
Cowley Academy is a mixed secondary academy in Spalding, Lincolnshire County Council, teaching 621 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted graded quality of education as Good at its most recent inspection in May 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 36.5 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 4 September 2025 to 17 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for Cowley Academy.
From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Cowley Academy.
- 2 Staff Training Day
- 3 Staff Training Day
- 4 Autumn Term Starts (Years 7, 10 & 11)
- 4–30 Autumn Term
- 5 Autumn Term Starts (All year groups)
- 1–24 Autumn Term
- 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
- 3–30 Autumn Term (2nd Half)
- 1–19 Autumn Term (2nd Half)
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 25 Christmas Day
- 26 Boxing Day
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 1 New Year's Day Bank Holiday
- 5–31 Spring Term
- 1–13 Spring Term
- 16–20 Spring Half Term Holiday
- 23–28 Spring Term (2nd Half)
- 1–31 Spring Term (2nd Half)
- 1–2 Spring Term (2nd Half)
- 3–17 Easter Holiday
- 3 Good Friday
- 6 Easter Monday
- 20–30 Summer Term (1st Half)
- 1–22 Summer Term (1st Half)
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday
- 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday (includes Spring Bank Holiday on May 25)
- 25 Spring Bank Holiday
- 1–30 Summer Term (2nd Half)
- 1–17 Summer Term (2nd Half)
- 18–31 Summer Holiday
- 1–31 Summer Holiday
- 31 Summer Bank Holiday
- 1 Summer Holiday
Key dates (2025–2026)
- Staff Training Day Sep 2, 2025 Inset Day
- Staff Training Day Sep 3, 2025 Inset Day
- Autumn Term Starts (Years 7, 10 & 11) Sep 4, 2025 Term
- Autumn Term Starts (All year groups) Sep 5, 2025 Term
- Autumn Term Sep 4, 2025 - Oct 24, 2025 Term
- Autumn Half Term Holiday Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- Autumn Term (2nd Half) Nov 3, 2025 - Dec 19, 2025 Term
- Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Term Jan 5, 2026 - Feb 13, 2026 Term
- Spring Half Term Holiday Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Term (2nd Half) Feb 23, 2026 - Apr 2, 2026 Term
- Easter Holiday Apr 3-17, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Term (1st Half) Apr 20, 2026 - May 22, 2026 Term
- Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Half Term Holiday (includes Spring Bank Holiday on May 25) May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Term (2nd Half) Jun 1, 2026 - Jul 17, 2026 Term
- Summer Holiday Jul 18, 2026 - Sep 1, 2026 Holiday
- New Year's Day Bank Holiday Jan 1, 2026 Holiday
- Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
- Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
- Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
- Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Cowley Academy with Lincolnshire County Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 36.5 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Lincolnshire County Council England
Attendance 27.6% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Lincolnshire County Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 92% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Lincolnshire County Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Cowley Academy. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Cowley Academy than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.