SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

The Joseph Whitaker School

Warsop Lane, Rainworth, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG21 0AG

Sixth form Full
School website 01623792327

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 12 November 2024.

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

43.2 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

38% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

59% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.9 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

49% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the lower half 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 lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.02confidence interval -0.21 to 0.17

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
33.7

England average 32.3

A level students
71

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1361
Places
1250
How full
Full — 1361 pupils against 1250 places
Girls / boys
690 / 671
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
22%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
24%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
3%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
13%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
93%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
82%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
32%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
238

After sixth form

Went to university
47%

England 50%

In education, work or training
88%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
73

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

25% 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
66%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
88

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 Newark and Sherwood 006F, 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
20%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
27%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
67%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
22%

England 17%

Households with no car
18%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
42%

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
EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Carey Ayres
Local authority
Nottinghamshire
Ward
Rainworth South & Blidworth
Constituency
Sherwood Forest
URN
137628

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Samworth Church AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 37.1 3.1 mi
The Garibaldi SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 44.4 3.2 mi
The Brunts AcademyAcademy converter No grade 45.5 3.8 mi
Queen Elizabeth's AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 32.2 4.5 mi
All Saints' Catholic Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 51.6 4.6 mi
The Manor AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 39.8 4.8 mi
Outwood Academy KirkbyAcademy converter No grade 36.1 5.3 mi
Colonel Frank Seely AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 47.9 5.3 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
Archbishop Holgate's School, A Church of England AcademyAcademy converter No grade 56.7
Queen Mary's Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 74.2
King Edward VI Handsworth SchoolAcademy converter No grade 74.2
Leigh Academy Hundred of HooAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 43.2
Blue Coat Church of England School and Music CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 51.2
Magna AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 44.3
Cambridge Academy for Science and TechnologyUniversity technical college Good 2023 56.8
Maricourt Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2022 44.5

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.