The Joseph Whitaker School
Warsop Lane, Rainworth, Mansfield, NG21 0AG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Carey Ayres
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- East Midlands Education Trust
- Constituency
- Sherwood Forest
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,250
- Pupils on roll
- 1,361
- URN
- 137628
- Local authority
- Nottinghamshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01623792327
About this school
The Joseph Whitaker School is a secondary academy in Mansfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,361 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Joseph Whitaker School, and its latest judgement is set out 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 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 238 | 223 | 229 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 44.7 | 43.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.03 -0.21 to +0.15 | -0.02 -0.21 to +0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 42% | 40.4% | 38% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 68.2% | 58.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 33% | 41.7% | 48.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
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 The Joseph Whitaker 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 | Nottinghamshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.3 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.7 | 39.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.2 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,380 |
| 2023/24 | 1,371 |
| 2024/25 | 1,328 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Joseph Whitaker School compares
The Joseph Whitaker School ranked 30th of 44 secondary schools in Nottinghamshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 50% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.2 | 8% | 23.8% | 1,361 | — |
| Samworth Church Academy | 37.1 | 11.9% | 32.5% | 1,008 | 3.1 miles |
| The Garibaldi School | 44.4 | 9.2% | 26.3% | 1,017 | 3.2 miles |
| The Brunts Academy | 45.5 | 8.1% | 28.8% | 1,378 | 3.8 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Academy | 32.2 | 11.7% | 42.6% | 886 | 4.5 miles |
| All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy | 51.6 | 6.7% | 19.7% | 1,130 | 4.6 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 23.77%
- English as an additional language
- 3.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.96%
- Persistent absence
- 22.31%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Samworth Church Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
The Garibaldi School3.2 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
The Brunts Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
Queen Elizabeth's Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy4.6 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
Other schools in Mansfield
The Joseph Whitaker School ranks 5th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Mansfield.
- All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Meden School Secondary
- Queen Elizabeth's Academy Secondary
- Samworth Church Academy Secondary
- Shirebrook Academy Secondary
- The Brunts Academy Secondary
- The Garibaldi School Secondary
- The Manor Academy Secondary
- Abbey Primary School Primary
- Anthony Bek Community Primary School Primary
- Asquith Primary School Primary
- Berry Hill Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Joseph Whitaker School teach?
- The Joseph Whitaker School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Mansfield.
- Who is the headteacher of The Joseph Whitaker School?
- The headteacher of The Joseph Whitaker School is Mrs Carey Ayres, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Joseph Whitaker School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Joseph Whitaker 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 The Joseph Whitaker School?
- The Joseph Whitaker School has 1,361 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Joseph Whitaker School full?
- The Joseph Whitaker School has capacity for 1,250 pupils and 1,361 on roll (109%), so it is at or above 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 Joseph Whitaker School a faith school?
- No. The Joseph Whitaker School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Joseph Whitaker School a selective school?
- No. The Joseph Whitaker School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Joseph Whitaker School part of an academy trust?
- The Joseph Whitaker School is part of EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Joseph Whitaker School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.3 in 2022/23 and 43.2 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 Joseph Whitaker School compare with other schools in Nottinghamshire?
- The Joseph Whitaker School ranked 30th of 44 secondary schools in Nottinghamshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 50% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% 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 Joseph Whitaker School's absence rate?
- The Joseph Whitaker School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Joseph Whitaker School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Joseph Whitaker 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.