SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Hartlepool

High Tunstall College of Science

Elwick Road, West Park, Hartlepool, TS26 0LQ

Full
School website 01429261446

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 28 January 2025.

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

44.3 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

48% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

63% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

20% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.32confidence interval -0.49 to -0.15

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
1399
Places
1394
How full
Full — 1399 pupils against 1394 places
Girls / boys
671 / 728
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
17%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
30%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
5%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
7%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
19%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
2%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
244

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Hartlepool 014E, 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
48%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
9%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
94%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
4%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
41%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Foundation school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Mark Tilling
Local authority
Hartlepool
Ward
Rural West
Constituency
Hartlepool
URN
111748

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form CollegeAcademy converter No grade 41.2 1 mi
Dyke House Sports and Technology CollegeAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2022 49.2 1.3 mi
St Hild's Church of England SchoolAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 34 1.6 mi
Manor Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 46.9 2.1 mi
St Michael's Catholic AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 41.9 5.2 mi
Open Air EducationOther independent school No grade 5.4 mi
Northfield School and Sports CollegeCommunity school Good 2023 45.3 5.5 mi
Dene AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 41.4 5.6 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
Maghull High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 39.6
Queen Elizabeth High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 39.7
Newfield Secondary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 47.9
Marshalls Park AcademyAcademy converter No grade 42.9
Willowfield SchoolCommunity school No grade 46.1
The Spires CollegeFoundation school Good 2022 44.5
St Edmund's Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2022 58.9
Darwen Aldridge Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.5

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.