SchoolFacts.uk

Cowes Enterprise College, An Ormiston Academy

Secondary · Cowes · PO31 8HB

Data updated

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Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 8 March 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,156 pupils · 73% of 1,585 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy sponsor led
Age range
11–19
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
23.5% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
5.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
17.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
3.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.cowesec.org
URN
140845

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 175 families named it first for 202 Year 7 places, 0.87 first choices per place. We hold one Year 7 admissions round for it, 2026 entry, and it was not decided by a published distance. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 8 March 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 10.1% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.87 first-choice applications per place

202 places offered · 175 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

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One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2026, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

192 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
42.7
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
69.8%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
38.5%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) C+
33.6
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school42.7
Median of its 12 closest peers46.5
Isle of Wight average42.5
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Brimsham Green SchoolBristol · 73 miles awayGood (2019)44.9
BBG AcademyBirkenshaw · 207 miles awayExpected standard46.8
Bottisham Village CollegeCambridge · 121 miles awayRequires improvement51.1
Birkenhead High School AcademyPrenton · 196 miles awayGood50.5
Queen Elizabeth'sCrediton · 103 miles awayExpected standard46.2
The Bewdley SchoolBewdley · 119 miles awayGood42.6
Chipping Norton SchoolChipping Norton · 82 miles awayGood49.3
Dene Magna and Sixth FormMitcheldean · 91 miles awayGood52.6
Aylesford School WarwickWarwick · 105 miles awayRequires improvement39.9
Frederick Gough SchoolScunthorpe · 195 miles awayGood42.2
Denefield SchoolReading · 50 miles awayGood47
The Cedars AcademyLeicester · 133 miles awayGood45.1

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 86% (Isle of Wight 85%, England 59%) · Any other White background 5% (Isle of Wight 3%, England 7%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 3%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Isle of Wight 4%, England 3%) · Black African 2% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 5%) · Not recorded 1% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 1% (Isle of Wight 1%, England 4%) · other groups together 2%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
10.1%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
29.8%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

17.28 suspensions per 100 pupils and 4 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Isle of Wight: 24.37 suspensions and 0.24 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
18.9
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

84% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 7% moved to another state school · 9% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

72.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 9.1 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £55,402; 13.4% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£7,350
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 78% (77%) · premises 7% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (6%) · supplies and services 9% (11%) · educational supplies 6% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (1%) · catering 3% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance +£816,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
95%
Continuing in education
90%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
2%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
41%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
37%
Any sustained destination
85%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
8/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher36.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications14.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work39.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways9.3%18.1%
Residents in very good health42.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier88.2%62.3%
Social housing0.6%17.1%
Privately rented11.2%20.5%
Detached houses71.9%22.9%
Flats5.3%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms20.6%21.1%
Households with no car or van10.3%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017301 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£285,000321 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£215,000–£400,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (68)£416,000
Semi-detached (74)£300,000
Terraced (95)£275,000
Flat (84)£190,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
2an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
7an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
1an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools