Norton Canes High School
Burntwood Road, Norton Canes, Cannock, WS11 9SP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Diggory
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Cannock Chase
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 724
- Pupils on roll
- 400
- URN
- 124395
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01543622600
About this school
Norton Canes High School is a community secondary school in Cannock. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 400 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 94 | 78 | 66 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.2 | 36.9 | 34.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.58 -0.87 to -0.30 | -0.49 -0.80 to -0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 17% | 19.2% | 18.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 40% | 41% | 37.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 2% | 9% | 7.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Norton Canes High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Staffordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 36.2 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.9 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.8 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 467 |
| 2023/24 | 449 |
| 2024/25 | 439 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Norton Canes High School compares
Norton Canes High School ranked 53rd of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.8 | 9.3% | 36.7% | 400 | — |
| Chase Terrace Academy | 44.3 | 9.6% | 22.9% | 1,172 | 1.5 miles |
| Erasmus Darwin Academy | 47.8 | 7.3% | 18.9% | 1,112 | 1.5 miles |
| Kingsmead School | 48.5 | 8.5% | 19.2% | 1,427 | 2.0 miles |
| Brownhills Ormiston Academy | 37.1 | 9.4% | 50.8% | 778 | 2.2 miles |
| Great Wyrley Academy | 39 | 10.8% | 33% | 606 | 2.3 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 36.73%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.33%
- Persistent absence
- 29.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chase Terrace Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Burntwood
-
Erasmus Darwin Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Burntwood
-
Kingsmead School2.0 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Brownhills Ormiston Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Walsall
-
Great Wyrley Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Walsall
Other schools in Cannock
Norton Canes High School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Cannock.
- Cannock Chase High School Secondary
- Cardinal Griffin Catholic College Secondary
- Kingsmead School Secondary
- Staffordshire University Academy Secondary
- Hednesford Nursery School Nursery
- Bridgtown Primary School Primary
- Chadsmoor CofE (VC) Junior School Primary
- Chadsmoor Community Infants and Nursery School Primary
- Five Ways Primary School Primary
- Gorsemoor Primary School Primary
- Hazel Slade Primary Academy Primary
- Heath Hayes Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Norton Canes High School teach?
- Norton Canes High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Cannock.
- Who is the headteacher of Norton Canes High School?
- The headteacher of Norton Canes High School is Mrs Sarah Diggory, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Norton Canes High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Norton Canes High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Norton Canes High School?
- Norton Canes High School has 400 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Norton Canes High School full?
- Norton Canes High School has capacity for 724 pupils and 400 on roll (55%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Norton Canes High School a faith school?
- No. Norton Canes High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Norton Canes High School a selective school?
- No. Norton Canes High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Norton Canes High School have?
- The schools register lists Norton Canes High School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Norton Canes High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.2 in 2022/23 and 34.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Norton Canes High School rank locally?
- Norton Canes High School ranked 53rd of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Norton Canes High School's absence rate?
- Norton Canes High School's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Norton Canes High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Norton Canes High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.