Hadlow Rural Community School
Tonbridge Road, Hadlow, TN11 0AU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- HADLOW RURAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL LIMITED
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Boxall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Tonbridge
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 375
- Pupils on roll
- 377
- URN
- 139697
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01732498120
About this school
Hadlow Rural Community School is a secondary academy in Hadlow. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 377 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- 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 | 69 | 60 | 69 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.5 | 37.7 | 36.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.47 -0.82 to -0.13 | -0.08 -0.44 to +0.29 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 22% | 28.3% | 30.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 50% | 47.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 26% | 40% | 37.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
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 Hadlow Rural Community 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33.5 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.7 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.3 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 371 |
| 2023/24 | 386 |
| 2024/25 | 391 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hadlow Rural Community School compares
Hadlow Rural Community School ranked 81st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 29% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.3 | 12.8% | 31.2% | 377 | — |
| Leigh Academy Hugh Christie | 40.5 | 10.7% | 39.8% | 688 | 2.1 miles |
| Hillview School for Girls | 48 | 9.7% | 16.8% | 1,500 | 3.1 miles |
| Weald of Kent Grammar School | 70 | 6.8% | 4% | 1,913 | 3.4 miles |
| Tonbridge Grammar School | 77.2 | 5.8% | 2.2% | 1,150 | 3.6 miles |
| The Judd School | 78.4 | 4.6% | 2.7% | 1,541 | 3.7 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)
- 31.2%
- English as an additional language
- 1.8%
- Overall absence
- 12.81%
- Persistent absence
- 39.58%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Leigh Academy Hugh Christie2.1 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
Hillview School for Girls3.1 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
Weald of Kent Grammar School3.4 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
Tonbridge Grammar School3.6 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
-
The Judd School3.7 miles
Secondary · Tonbridge
Common questions
- What year groups does Hadlow Rural Community School teach?
- Hadlow Rural Community School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Hadlow.
- Who is the headteacher of Hadlow Rural Community School?
- The headteacher of Hadlow Rural Community School is Mr Paul Boxall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hadlow Rural Community School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hadlow Rural Community 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 Hadlow Rural Community School?
- Hadlow Rural Community School has 377 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Hadlow Rural Community School full?
- Hadlow Rural Community School has capacity for 375 pupils and 377 on roll (101%), 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 Hadlow Rural Community School a faith school?
- No. Hadlow Rural Community School has no designated religious character.
- Is Hadlow Rural Community School a selective school?
- No. Hadlow Rural Community School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Hadlow Rural Community School?
- Hadlow Rural Community School is part of HADLOW RURAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Hadlow Rural Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.5 in 2022/23 and 36.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hadlow Rural Community School rank locally?
- Hadlow Rural Community School ranked 81st of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 29% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hadlow Rural Community School's absence rate?
- Hadlow Rural Community School's overall absence rate is 12.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hadlow Rural Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hadlow Rural Community 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.