Outwood Academy Acklam

Outwood Academy Acklam is a secondary academy school located in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, United Kingdom. It provides education to students typically aged between eleven and sixteen, following the national curriculum set by the Department for Education. As an academy, it operates independently of local authority control while receiving public funding. The school is part of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, a multi‑academy trust that oversees several schools across the North of England. Its core function is to deliver teaching and learning experiences that prepare pupils for further education, training, or employment. The academy also offers a range of extracurricular activities designed to support student development beyond the classroom. The school receives funding directly from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, as is standard for academies in England. It is subject to regular inspection by Ofsted to evaluate the quality of education provided. Outwood Academy Acklam serves students from the Acklam neighbourhood and nearby areas of Middlesbrough. The academy aims to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that includes academic subjects as well as opportunities for creative and physical development.

The Outwood Grange Academies Trust includes Outwood Academy Acklam among its member schools. In May 2025 the academy experienced a cyber security incident that compromised parent contact information, including names, dates of birth, addresses and telephone details. Upon discovering the breach, the school contained the incident, secured its systems and launched a thorough investigation with the assistance of cyber security experts. It notified the police, Action Fraud, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Information Commissioner's Office as part of its response. A spokesperson highlighted the growing sophistication of cyber criminals and reaffirmed the trust’s commitment to protecting personal data. Outwood Academy Acklam remains a not‑for‑profit educational entity governed by the charitable trust that sponsors it. The trust’s governance structure includes a board of trustees responsible for oversight of all member schools. The trust provides central support services to its member academies. Outwood Academy Acklam’s leadership works within this framework to implement trust-wide policies while maintaining local autonomy. The incident response in May 2025 demonstrated the academy’s adherence to statutory data breach reporting requirements.