Charlton School
Apley Avenue, Telford, TF1 3FA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LEARNING COMMUNITY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sarah Barton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Learning Community Trust
- Constituency
- The Wrekin
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,218
- URN
- 142821
- Local authority
- Telford and Wrekin
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01952951409
About this school
Charlton School is a secondary academy in Telford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,218 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 236 | 238 | 252 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.8 | 38.5 | 42.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.51 -0.69 to -0.32 | -0.41 -0.60 to -0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 25.6% | 34.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 50.4% | 57.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 73% | 51.7% | 62.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
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 Charlton 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 | Telford and Wrekin average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41.8 | 41.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.5 | 39.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.7 | 40.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,216 |
| 2023/24 | 1,229 |
| 2024/25 | 1,236 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Charlton School compares
Charlton School ranked 6th of 12 secondary schools in Telford and Wrekin for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 48% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.7 | 7.3% | 27.5% | 1,218 | — |
| Ercall Wood Academy | 42.5 | 7.2% | 26.6% | 971 | 1.2 miles |
| Hadley Learning Community - Secondary Phase | 44.4 | 7.1% | 32.3% | 1,237 | 1.6 miles |
| New Road Academy | 38.6 | 14.4% | 46.6% | 1,073 | 2.9 miles |
| The Telford Langley School | 35 | 7.5% | 42.6% | 1,140 | 3.9 miles |
| Holy Trinity Academy | 45.9 | 5.2% | 22.6% | 994 | 4.5 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report21 April 2026
- 4 May 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.51%
- English as an additional language
- 12.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.29%
- Persistent absence
- 20.93%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ercall Wood Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Telford
-
Hadley Learning Community - Secondary Phase1.6 miles
Secondary · Telford
-
New Road Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Telford
-
The Telford Langley School3.9 miles
Secondary · Telford
-
Holy Trinity Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Telford
Other schools in Telford
Charlton School ranks 4th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Telford.
- Ercall Wood Academy Secondary
- Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Secondary
- Hadley Learning Community - Secondary Phase Secondary
- Holy Trinity Academy Secondary
- Madeley Academy Secondary
- New Road Academy Secondary
- The Telford Langley School Secondary
- The Telford Park School Secondary
- Madeley Nursery School Nursery
- Oakengates Nursery School Nursery
- Allscott Meads Primary Academy Primary
- Apley Wood Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Charlton School teach?
- Charlton School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Telford.
- Who is the headteacher of Charlton School?
- The headteacher of Charlton School is Mrs Sarah Barton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Charlton School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Charlton 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 Charlton School?
- Charlton School has 1,218 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Charlton School full?
- Charlton School has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,218 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 Charlton School a faith school?
- No. Charlton School has no designated religious character.
- Is Charlton School a selective school?
- No. Charlton School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Charlton School?
- Charlton School is part of LEARNING COMMUNITY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Charlton School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.8 in 2022/23 and 42.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Charlton School rank locally?
- Charlton School ranked 6th of 12 secondary schools in Telford and Wrekin for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 48% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Charlton School's absence rate?
- Charlton School's overall absence rate is 7.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Charlton School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Charlton 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 15 July 2026.