The Hart School
Penkridge Bank Road, Rugeley, WS15 2UE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Rachael Sandham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Creative Education Trust
- Constituency
- Cannock Chase
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,238
- Pupils on roll
- 1,157
- URN
- 137100
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01889802440
About this school
The Hart School is a secondary academy in Rugeley. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,157 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 22 June 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 202 | 208 | 213 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.7 | 44.5 | 46.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.21 -0.40 to -0.01 | -0.06 -0.25 to +0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 35.6% | 41.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 57% | 61.5% | 63.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 16.8% | 9.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
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 The Hart 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 | 46.7 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.5 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.5 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,265 |
| 2023/24 | 1,261 |
| 2024/25 | 1,216 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Hart School compares
The Hart School ranked 19th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% 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 | 46.5 | 9.5% | 28.1% | 1,157 | — |
| Staffordshire University Academy | 32.9 | 7.4% | 44.6% | 709 | 4.3 miles |
| Kingsmead School | 48.5 | 8.5% | 19.2% | 1,427 | 4.4 miles |
| Chase Terrace Academy | 44.3 | 9.6% | 22.9% | 1,172 | 5.3 miles |
| Walton High School | 50.6 | 5.8% | 8.1% | 1,262 | 5.4 miles |
| Cannock Chase High School | 42.1 | 9.7% | 35.2% | 1,113 | 5.4 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)
- 28.12%
- English as an additional language
- 3%
- Overall absence
- 9.46%
- Persistent absence
- 27.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Staffordshire University Academy4.3 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Kingsmead School4.4 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Chase Terrace Academy5.3 miles
Secondary · Burntwood
-
Walton High School5.4 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Cannock Chase High School5.4 miles
Secondary · Cannock
Other schools in Rugeley
- Chancel Primary School Primary
- Chase View Community Primary School Primary
- Churchfield CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Etching Hill CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Forest Hills Primary School Primary
- Gentleshaw Primary Academy Primary
- Hayes Meadow Primary School Primary
- Henry Chadwick Primary School Primary
- Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School Primary
- Redbrook Hayes Community Primary School Primary
- St James Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Hart School teach?
- The Hart School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Rugeley.
- Who is the headteacher of The Hart School?
- The headteacher of The Hart School is Miss Rachael Sandham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Hart School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Hart 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 The Hart School?
- The Hart School has 1,157 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Hart School full?
- The Hart School has capacity for 1,238 pupils and 1,157 on roll (93%), 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 The Hart School a faith school?
- No. The Hart School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Hart School a selective school?
- No. The Hart School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Hart School?
- The Hart School is part of CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Hart School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.7 in 2022/23 and 46.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Hart School rank locally?
- The Hart School ranked 19th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% 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 The Hart School's absence rate?
- The Hart School's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Hart School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Hart 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.