SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Rugeley, Staffordshire

The Hart School

Penkridge Bank Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 2UE

Ofsted Good · 2023 Sixth form
School website 01889802440

Ofsted

Goodas at 22 June 2023

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 22 June 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

46.5 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

42% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

64% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

9% 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 middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.06confidence interval -0.25 to 0.13

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C
Average points per entry
29.3

England average 32.3

A level students
60

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1157
Places
1238
How full
93% full — 1157 of 1238 places taken
Girls / boys
583 / 574
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
27%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
28%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
3%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
15%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
90%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
81%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
36%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
202

After sixth form

Went to university
55%

England 50%

In education, work or training
96%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
13%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
55

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

6% 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
59%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
49

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 Cannock Chase 001C, 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
30%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
18%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
93%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
5%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
46%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Rachael Sandham
Local authority
Staffordshire
Ward
Etching Hill & the Heath
Constituency
Cannock Chase
URN
137100

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
JP Alternative EducationOther independent school No grade 1.2 mi
Rugeley John TaylorFree schools No grade 1.7 mi
Staffordshire University AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 32.9 4.3 mi
Kingsmead SchoolAcademy converter No grade 48.5 4.4 mi
Chase Terrace AcademyAcademy converter No grade 44.3 5.3 mi
Walton High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.6 5.4 mi
Cannock Chase High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 42.1 5.4 mi
Norton Canes High SchoolCommunity school Requires improvement 2024 34.8 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
All Saints Catholic School and Technology CollegeVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2024 56.1
The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form CollegeVoluntary aided school Good 2022 45.7
The Sir Robert Woodard AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 42.1
The Aylesbury Vale AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 39.8
King's Lynn AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 39.1
Pilton Community CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 46.4
Glenmoor AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 60.7
Ellowes Hall Sports CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 43.1

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.