Madeley High School
Newcastle Road, Madeley, Crewe, CW3 9JJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Principal Lee Nixon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Shaw Education Trust
- Constituency
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 675
- Pupils on roll
- 779
- URN
- 140154
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01782987800
About this school
Madeley High School is a secondary academy in Crewe. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 779 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 26 February 2025, where inspectors found the school has improved significantly. 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 | 135 | 126 | 140 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.4 | 53.8 | 49.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.17 -0.07 to +0.41 | +0.30 +0.05 to +0.55 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 59% | 65.1% | 55% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 83.3% | 75.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 11.9% | 28.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.5 |
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 Madeley High 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 | 50.4 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 53.8 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.5 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 704 |
| 2023/24 | 731 |
| 2024/25 | 769 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Madeley High School compares
Madeley High School ranked 10th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.5 | 6.1% | 15.5% | 779 | — |
| Sir Thomas Boughey Academy | 35.1 | 7.9% | 24.8% | 445 | 3.0 miles |
| Newcastle Academy | 37.6 | 12.1% | 40.8% | 441 | 3.8 miles |
| Chesterton Community Sports College | 41.2 | 8.6% | 35.8% | 915 | 4.4 miles |
| St John Fisher Catholic College | 41.8 | 7.2% | 21.8% | 1,075 | 4.4 miles |
| Clayton Hall Academy | 45.8 | 8.5% | 20.1% | 828 | 5.1 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)
- 15.47%
- English as an additional language
- 2.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.06%
- Persistent absence
- 14.25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sir Thomas Boughey Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Newcastle Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle Under Lyme
-
Chesterton Community Sports College4.4 miles
Secondary · Newcastle
-
St John Fisher Catholic College4.4 miles
Secondary · Newcastle Under Lyme
-
Clayton Hall Academy5.1 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-under-Lyme
Other schools in Crewe
Madeley High School ranks 1st of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Crewe.
- Cheshire Studio School Secondary
- Crewe Engineering and Design UTC Secondary
- Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School Secondary
- Ruskin Community High School Secondary
- Sir William Stanier School Secondary
- St Thomas More Catholic High School Secondary
- The Oaks Academy Secondary
- Westminster Nursery School Nursery
- Audlem St James' CofE Primary School Primary
- Beechwood Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Betley CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Brierley Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Madeley High School teach?
- Madeley High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Crewe.
- Who is the headteacher of Madeley High School?
- The headteacher of Madeley High School is Principal Lee Nixon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Madeley High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Madeley High 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 Madeley High School?
- Madeley High School has 779 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Madeley High School full?
- Madeley High School has capacity for 675 pupils and 779 on roll (115%), 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 Madeley High School a faith school?
- No. Madeley High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Madeley High School a selective school?
- No. Madeley High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Madeley High School?
- Madeley High School is part of THE SHAW EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Madeley High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.4 in 2022/23 and 49.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Madeley High School rank locally?
- Madeley High School ranked 10th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Madeley High School's absence rate?
- Madeley High School's overall absence rate is 6.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Madeley High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Madeley High 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.