Sir John Talbot's School
Prees Road, Whitchurch, SY13 2BY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Tim Stonall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Marches Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- North Shropshire
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 791
- Pupils on roll
- 861
- URN
- 141176
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01948660600
About this school
Sir John Talbot's School is a secondary academy in Whitchurch. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 861 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- 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 | 130 | 154 | 159 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.1 | 47.7 | 46.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.09 -0.17 to +0.35 | +0.18 -0.06 to +0.41 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 46.1% | 47.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 64.3% | 69.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 28.6% | 19.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
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 Sir John Talbot's 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 | Shropshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.1 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.7 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.8 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 816 |
| 2023/24 | 850 |
| 2024/25 | 873 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sir John Talbot's School compares
Sir John Talbot's School ranked 3rd of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% 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 | 46.8 | 8% | 21.7% | 861 | — |
| Bishop Heber High School | 53.8 | 6.9% | 12.9% | 1,293 | 6.1 miles |
| The Thomas Adams School | 43.4 | 7.4% | 18.8% | 1,214 | 7.2 miles |
| The Grove School | 39.5 | 9.2% | 28.7% | 856 | 9.0 miles |
| Brine Leas School | 49.7 | 7% | 15% | 1,417 | 9.6 miles |
| Malbank School and Sixth Form College | — | — | — | 1,289 | 9.7 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)
- 21.68%
- English as an additional language
- 6.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.96%
- Persistent absence
- 22.55%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bishop Heber High School6.1 miles
Secondary · Malpas
-
The Thomas Adams School7.2 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
The Grove School9.0 miles
Secondary · Market Drayton
-
Brine Leas School9.6 miles
Secondary · Nantwich
-
Malbank School and Sixth Form College9.7 miles
Secondary · Nantwich
Other schools in Whitchurch
- Lower Heath CofE Primary School Primary
- Prees CofE Primary School Primary
- Tilstock CofE Primary and Nursery Primary
- Whitchurch CofE Infant and Nursery Academy Primary
- Whitchurch CofE Junior Academy Primary
- Physis Academy Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Sir John Talbot's School teach?
- Sir John Talbot's School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Whitchurch.
- Who is the headteacher of Sir John Talbot's School?
- The headteacher of Sir John Talbot's School is Mr Tim Stonall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sir John Talbot's School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sir John Talbot's 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 Sir John Talbot's School?
- Sir John Talbot's School has 861 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Sir John Talbot's School full?
- Sir John Talbot's School has capacity for 791 pupils and 861 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 Sir John Talbot's School a faith school?
- No. Sir John Talbot's School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sir John Talbot's School a selective school?
- No. Sir John Talbot's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sir John Talbot's School?
- Sir John Talbot's School is part of MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Sir John Talbot's School have?
- The schools register lists Sir John Talbot's School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Sir John Talbot's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.1 in 2022/23 and 46.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sir John Talbot's School rank locally?
- Sir John Talbot's School ranked 3rd of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% 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 Sir John Talbot's School's absence rate?
- Sir John Talbot's School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sir John Talbot's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sir John Talbot's 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.