City United Academy (CUA)

Overview

City United Academy is a welcoming independent school for pupils aged 11 to 18 who have previously had negative educational experiences. The report describes a setting defined by "warmth, care and acceptance," where staff are "skilled at helping if pupils become anxious" and maintain high expectations for behaviour. The school is judged as "Good" across all inspection categories and meets the independent school standards.

Strengths

• Relationships are "extremely positive," with a "supportive, respectful culture" where bullying is rare and staff model positive behaviour consistently.
• Teachers provide "focused support" to address knowledge gaps from missed schooling, using "targeted catch-up sessions" effectively to help pupils achieve well.
• Reading is a "pillar of the school’s curriculum," with staff engaging pupils in "high-quality texts" that broaden social and cultural understanding.
• The school offers extensive personal development through a well-implemented PSHE curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and tailored careers guidance.
• Leaders and the proprietor body are "diligent in ensuring all the independent school standards are met consistently," providing high-quality resources and a safe environment.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of subjects, the detail of the curriculum "lacks precision," meaning pupils do not always learn the most important skills and knowledge.
• The school should ensure it "identifies the most important knowledge pupils are expected to know for all areas of the curriculum" to secure depth of learning.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."