Quarrydale Academy
Stoneyford Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, NG17 2DU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- QUARRYDALE ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mr Tim Paling
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Ashfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,550
- Pupils on roll
- 1,265
- URN
- 137857
- Local authority
- Nottinghamshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01623554178
About this school
Quarrydale Academy is a secondary academy in Sutton-in-Ashfield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,265 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 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
- 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 | 203 | 211 | 237 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.2 | 38.4 | 36.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.65 -0.84 to -0.45 | -0.56 -0.76 to -0.37 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 32.7% | 24.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 53.1% | 51.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 58% | 46.4% | 55.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
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 Quarrydale 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 | Nottinghamshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.2 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.4 | 39.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.6 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,292 |
| 2023/24 | 1,321 |
| 2024/25 | 1,277 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Quarrydale Academy compares
Quarrydale Academy ranked 39th of 44 secondary schools in Nottinghamshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.6 | 8.3% | 36.4% | 1,265 | — |
| Sutton Community Academy | 37.6 | 8.2% | 46.1% | 796 | 0.9 miles |
| Ashfield Comprehensive School | 47.8 | 7.5% | 28.5% | 2,601 | 1.8 miles |
| All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy | 51.6 | 6.7% | 19.7% | 1,130 | 2.4 miles |
| Outwood Academy Kirkby | 36.1 | 12.7% | 49.6% | 523 | 2.7 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Academy | 32.2 | 11.7% | 42.6% | 886 | 2.8 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)
- 36.36%
- English as an additional language
- 6%
- Overall absence
- 8.28%
- Persistent absence
- 23.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sutton Community Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Sutton-in-Ashfield
-
Ashfield Comprehensive School1.8 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
-
Outwood Academy Kirkby2.7 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Queen Elizabeth's Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Mansfield
Other schools in Sutton-in-Ashfield
- Sutton Community Academy Secondary
- Brierley Forest Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Croft Primary School Primary
- Dalestorth Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Forest Glade Primary School Primary
- Healdswood Infants' and Nursery School Primary
- Hillocks Primary Academy Primary
- Leamington Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Mapplewells Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Priestsic Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Skegby Junior Academy Primary
- St Andrew's CofE Primary and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Quarrydale Academy teach?
- Quarrydale Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
- Who is the headteacher of Quarrydale Academy?
- The headteacher of Quarrydale Academy is Mr Tim Paling, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Quarrydale Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Quarrydale 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 Quarrydale Academy?
- Quarrydale Academy has 1,265 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Quarrydale Academy full?
- Quarrydale Academy has capacity for 1,550 pupils and 1,265 on roll (82%), 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 Quarrydale Academy a faith school?
- No. Quarrydale Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Quarrydale Academy a selective school?
- No. Quarrydale Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Quarrydale Academy?
- Quarrydale Academy is part of QUARRYDALE ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Quarrydale Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.2 in 2022/23 and 36.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Quarrydale Academy rank locally?
- Quarrydale Academy ranked 39th of 44 secondary schools in Nottinghamshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Quarrydale Academy's absence rate?
- Quarrydale Academy's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Quarrydale Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Quarrydale 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.