Hartsdown Academy
George V Avenue, Margate, CT9 5RE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- COASTAL ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Ian Wallace
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Coastal Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Herne Bay and Sandwich
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,175
- Pupils on roll
- 868
- URN
- 136571
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01843227957
About this school
Hartsdown Academy is a secondary academy in Margate. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 868 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 97 | 123 | 137 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.5 | 33.1 | 32.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.40 -0.69 to -0.11 | -0.39 -0.66 to -0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 17.1% | 19.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42% | 36.6% | 38% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 12.2% | 14.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
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 Hartsdown Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33.5 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.1 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32.1 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 15.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 773 |
| 2023/24 | 833 |
| 2024/25 | 837 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hartsdown Academy compares
Hartsdown Academy ranked 94th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32.1 | 14.9% | 64.3% | 868 | — |
| Ursuline College | 36.1 | 11.1% | 37.6% | 949 | 1.8 miles |
| King Ethelbert School | 36.8 | 10.3% | 35.1% | 845 | 2.0 miles |
| The Royal Harbour Academy | 28.9 | 15.8% | 63.6% | 1,045 | 2.3 miles |
| Dane Court Grammar School | 65.3 | 6.3% | 21.1% | 1,152 | 2.5 miles |
| The Charles Dickens School | 42.5 | 9.8% | 43% | 1,117 | 2.6 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report24 February 2026
- 7 December 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 64.28%
- English as an additional language
- 22.8%
- Overall absence
- 14.85%
- Persistent absence
- 48.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ursuline College1.8 miles
Secondary · Westgate-on-Sea
-
King Ethelbert School2.0 miles
Secondary · Birchington
-
The Royal Harbour Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Ramsgate
-
Dane Court Grammar School2.5 miles
Secondary · Broadstairs
-
The Charles Dickens School2.6 miles
Secondary · Broadstairs
Other schools in Margate
- Cliftonville Primary School Primary
- Drapers Mills Primary Academy Primary
- Garlinge Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Margate, Holy Trinity and St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Northdown Primary School Primary
- Palm Bay Primary School Primary
- Salmestone Primary School Primary
- St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Margate Primary
- Enterprise Learning Alliance Local authority maintained schools
- Liberty College Other types
- Life Skills Enterprise Special schools
- St Anthony's School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Hartsdown Academy teach?
- Hartsdown Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Margate.
- Who is the headteacher of Hartsdown Academy?
- The headteacher of Hartsdown Academy is Mr Ian Wallace, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hartsdown Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hartsdown Academy, 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 Hartsdown Academy?
- Hartsdown Academy has 868 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Hartsdown Academy full?
- Hartsdown Academy has capacity for 1,175 pupils and 868 on roll (74%), 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 Hartsdown Academy a faith school?
- No. Hartsdown Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Hartsdown Academy a selective school?
- No. Hartsdown Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Hartsdown Academy?
- Hartsdown Academy is part of COASTAL ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Hartsdown Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.5 in 2022/23 and 32.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hartsdown Academy rank locally?
- Hartsdown Academy ranked 94th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hartsdown Academy's absence rate?
- Hartsdown Academy's overall absence rate is 14.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hartsdown Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hartsdown Academy'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.