INSPECTORS have rated Winton and Glenmoor Academies as Good following a two-day inspection.

They praised Principal Ben Antell and senior leaders, describing them as "passionate in their pursuit of excellence for all students."

And they said students achieve well across the curriculum, especially in English.

Winton has 653 boys between the ages of 11 and 16 and neighbouring Glenmoor has 602 girls of the same age. The schools are part of United Learning and are co-located on a shared sit.

They have one Principal and one governing body and students mix at social times but are taught in single-sex lessons.

The inspection team, led by Simon Rowe, concluded: "Students behave exceptionally well around the site. Senior and middle leaders have developed an extremely strong culture of learning and development."

They said the schools are not yet Outstanding because students are not always sufficiently challenged, particularly in maths and they don't all improve their work as a result of teachers' feedback.

At Winton they said some students don't take pride in the completion or neat presentation of their work but inspectors said Glenmoor students "take great care and pride" in presentation.

Principal Ben Antell said: "These reports demonstrate just how far our academies have come over the past few years and confirm that we are already on the right track to becoming Outstanding. It is gratifying that inspectors have praised the exceptional behaviour and positive attitudes to learning demonstrated by our students and noted the excellent teaching practice taking place at Glenmoor and Winton.

"I would like to thank all students, staff, parents and governors for their continued hard work and commitment, working in partnership across the academies to generate such tremendous progress.”