John Taylor High School
Dunstall Road, Barton-under-Needwood, Burton-on-Trent, DE13 8AZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- JOHN TAYLOR MAT
- Principal
- Headteacher Jon Blanchenot
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- John Taylor MAT
- Constituency
- Lichfield
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,800
- Pupils on roll
- 1,523
- URN
- 136323
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01283247800
About this school
John Taylor High School is a secondary academy in Burton-on-Trent. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,523 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected John Taylor High School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 248 | 234 | 241 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.8 | 56.7 | 54.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.28 +0.11 to +0.46 | +0.49 +0.30 to +0.67 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58% | 65% | 63.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 84.6% | 79.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 50% | 51.7% | 56.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.0 |
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 John Taylor 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 | 52.8 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.7 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54.8 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,557 |
| 2023/24 | 1,512 |
| 2024/25 | 1,499 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John Taylor High School compares
John Taylor High School ranked 3rd of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54.8 | 4.9% | 9.3% | 1,523 | — |
| John Taylor Free School | 46.4 | 7.7% | 22.5% | 1,315 | 2.4 miles |
| Paget High School | 38.5 | 8.9% | 29.8% | 606 | 3.0 miles |
| Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 6.3% | 23.4% | 632 | 4.7 miles |
| Paulet High School | 41 | 7.9% | 26.2% | 915 | 4.7 miles |
| Abbot Beyne School | 39.4 | 10.1% | 33% | 834 | 5.3 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)
- 9.31%
- English as an additional language
- 6.3%
- Overall absence
- 4.87%
- Persistent absence
- 11.68%
Location
Nearby schools
-
John Taylor Free School2.4 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Paget High School3.0 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy4.7 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Paulet High School4.7 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Abbot Beyne School5.3 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
Other schools in Burton-on-Trent
John Taylor High School ranks 1st of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Burton-on-Trent.
- Abbot Beyne School Secondary
- Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- John Taylor Free School Secondary
- Paget High School Secondary
- Paulet High School Secondary
- The de Ferrers Academy Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary and Nursery School Primary
- All Saints CofE (C) Primary School Primary
- Branston Locks Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Burton Fields School Primary
- Christ Church Primary School Primary
- Edge Hill Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does John Taylor High School teach?
- John Taylor High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Burton-on-Trent.
- Who is the principal of John Taylor High School?
- The principal of John Taylor High School is Headteacher Jon Blanchenot, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has John Taylor High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John Taylor 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 many pupils are at John Taylor High School?
- John Taylor High School has 1,523 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is John Taylor High School full?
- John Taylor High School has capacity for 1,800 pupils and 1,523 on roll (85%), 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 John Taylor High School a faith school?
- No. John Taylor High School has no designated religious character.
- Is John Taylor High School a selective school?
- No. John Taylor High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is John Taylor High School part of an academy trust?
- John Taylor High School is part of JOHN TAYLOR MAT. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John Taylor High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.8 in 2022/23 and 54.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John Taylor High School compare with other schools in Staffordshire?
- John Taylor High School ranked 3rd of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 87% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John Taylor High School's absence rate?
- John Taylor High School's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John Taylor High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Taylor 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 1 July 2026.