Wolgarston High School
Cannock Road, Penkridge, Stafford, ST19 5RX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PENK VALLEY ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Daniel Boden
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 860
- Pupils on roll
- 847
- URN
- 145381
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01785788400
About this school
Wolgarston High School is a secondary academy in Stafford. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 847 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 207 | 211 | 204 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.1 | 49.2 | 47.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.64 +0.44 to +0.83 | +0.38 +0.18 to +0.57 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 58% | 50.2% | 47.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 71.6% | 75.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 53% | 36.5% | 40.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.3 | 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 Wolgarston 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 | 52.1 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.2 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.6 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 813 |
| 2023/24 | 826 |
| 2024/25 | 834 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Wolgarston High School compares
Wolgarston High School ranked 14th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.6 | 7% | 14.7% | 847 | — |
| The Rural Enterprise Academy | 37.6 | 10.1% | 25% | 217 | 1.6 miles |
| Cardinal Griffin Catholic College | 43.6 | 8.6% | 29.9% | 732 | 3.1 miles |
| Staffordshire University Academy | 32.9 | 7.4% | 44.6% | 709 | 3.5 miles |
| Cannock Chase High School | 42.1 | 9.7% | 35.2% | 1,113 | 3.7 miles |
| Stafford Manor High School | 30.6 | 11.4% | 48.1% | 439 | 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.66%
- English as an additional language
- 0.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.95%
- Persistent absence
- 18.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Rural Enterprise Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Penkridge
-
Cardinal Griffin Catholic College3.1 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Staffordshire University Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Cannock Chase High School3.7 miles
Secondary · Cannock
-
Stafford Manor High School4.5 miles
Secondary · Stafford
Other schools in Stafford
Wolgarston High School ranks 3rd of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Stafford.
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School Secondary
- King Edward VI High School Secondary
- Sir Graham Balfour High School Secondary
- Stafford Manor High School Secondary
- The Weston Road Academy Secondary
- Walton High School Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- All Saints CofE (C) First School Primary
- All Saints CofE Primary School, Bednall Primary
- Anson CofE Primary School Primary
- Barnfields Primary School Primary
- Beaconfields Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Wolgarston High School teach?
- Wolgarston High School teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Stafford.
- Who is the headteacher of Wolgarston High School?
- The headteacher of Wolgarston High School is Mr Daniel Boden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Wolgarston High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Wolgarston 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 Wolgarston High School?
- Wolgarston High School has 847 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is Wolgarston High School full?
- Wolgarston High School has capacity for 860 pupils and 847 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Wolgarston High School a faith school?
- No. Wolgarston High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Wolgarston High School a selective school?
- No. Wolgarston High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Wolgarston High School?
- Wolgarston High School is part of PENK VALLEY ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Wolgarston High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.1 in 2022/23 and 47.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Wolgarston High School rank locally?
- Wolgarston High School ranked 14th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 68% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Wolgarston High School's absence rate?
- Wolgarston High School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Wolgarston High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Wolgarston 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 15 July 2026.