A junior school in Wells has officially converted to academy status, with a change in legal identity marking a fresh chapter for pupils, parents and staff.

St Cuthbert's Church of England Junior School, located on Keward Avenue, is now recognised as an academy converter under the Academies Act 2010. The new school has been issued a unique registration number (URN 151584), replacing the previous school which held URN 123777.

While the day-to-day running of the school may appear unchanged to many families, the conversion means the original school has been legally closed and a new one has opened in its place – even if the pupils, teachers and buildings remain the same.

Under the law, academy converters are technically considered new schools. That means the new St Cuthbert's has not yet been inspected by Ofsted under the Education Act 2005 – and any past Ofsted ratings from the predecessor school no longer apply.

However, Ofsted does take the previous school's inspection history into account when deciding when to schedule a new visit.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: "It's important that parents understand this is now a new legal entity. While inspection reports from the former school are available for reference, they are not the official record for the new academy. We will inspect at an appropriate time, based on the available information."

The link to the predecessor school's Ofsted reports will remain online for three to five years, depending on the date of closure, but will eventually be removed from the public website.

Academy converters are typically inspected within three years of opening, unless His Majesty's Chief Inspector decides an earlier visit is needed based on concerns or new information.