SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Margate, Kent

Hartsdown Academy

George V Avenue, Margate, Kent, CT9 5RE

Sixth form
School website 01843227957

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 24 February 2026.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

32.1 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

20% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

38% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

2.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

15% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.39confidence interval -0.66 to -0.12

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as below average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
868
Places
1175
How full
74% full — 868 of 1175 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
433 / 435
Overall absence
15%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
48%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
64%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
23%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
42%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
80%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
78%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
27%
No sustained destination
18%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
97

After sixth form

Went to university
29%

England 50%

In education, work or training
62%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
12%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
42

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

0% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
38%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
8

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Thanet 005A, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
18%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
28%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
52%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
38%

England 17%

Households with no car
28%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
44%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
COASTAL ACADEMIES TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Ian Wallace
Local authority
Kent
Ward
Garlinge
Constituency
Herne Bay and Sandwich
URN
136571

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Ursuline CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 36.1 1.8 mi
King Ethelbert SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 36.8 2 mi
St George's Church of England Foundation SchoolFoundation school No grade 37.7 2.1 mi
The Royal Harbour AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2020 28.9 2.3 mi
Dane Court Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 65.3 2.5 mi
The Charles Dickens SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 42.5 2.6 mi
St Lawrence CollegeOther independent school No grade 3.2 mi
Chatham & Clarendon Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 64 3.6 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
The Charter School BermondseyFree schools Good 2022 40.9
Jewellery Quarter AcademyFree schools No grade 35.2
E-Act Merchants' AcademyAcademy sponsor led Inadequate 2024 29.5
Benfield SchoolAcademy converter No grade 33.5
Starbank SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 49
Clifton Community SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 29.4
City of London Academy IslingtonAcademy sponsor led No grade 40.8
E-ACT Shenley AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 31.6

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.