The Grove School
Newcastle Road, Market Drayton, TF9 1HF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Mitchell Allsopp
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Marches Academy Trust
- Constituency
- North Shropshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,206
- Pupils on roll
- 856
- URN
- 146580
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01630652121
About this school
The Grove School is a secondary academy in Market Drayton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 856 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
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- 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 | 142 | 159 | 142 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.0 | 38.1 | 39.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.42 -0.65 to -0.19 | -0.48 -0.70 to -0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 25.2% | 28.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 52.8% | 54.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 30.2% | 36.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
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 The Grove 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 | 43 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.1 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.5 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 848 |
| 2023/24 | 828 |
| 2024/25 | 815 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Grove School compares
The Grove School ranked 18th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.5 | 9.2% | 28.7% | 856 | — |
| Madeley High School | 49.5 | 6.1% | 15.5% | 779 | 8.8 miles |
| Sir John Talbot's School | 46.8 | 8% | 21.7% | 861 | 9.0 miles |
| Haberdashers' Adams | 71.8 | 4.9% | 5.8% | 1,090 | 10.2 miles |
| Newport Girls' High School Academy | 75.3 | 4.2% | 7.6% | 884 | 10.6 miles |
| The Burton Borough School | 39.7 | 10.2% | 22.1% | 1,077 | 10.7 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)
- 28.73%
- English as an additional language
- 5.3%
- Overall absence
- 9.15%
- Persistent absence
- 23.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Madeley High School8.8 miles
Secondary · Crewe
-
Sir John Talbot's School9.0 miles
Secondary · Whitchurch
-
Haberdashers' Adams10.2 miles
Secondary · Newport
-
Newport Girls' High School Academy10.6 miles
Secondary · Newport
-
The Burton Borough School10.7 miles
Secondary · Newport
Other schools in Market Drayton
- Adderley CofE Primary School Primary
- Buntingsdale Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Cheswardine Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Hinstock Primary School Primary
- Hodnet Primary School Primary
- Hugo Meynell CofE (VC) Primary School Primary
- Longlands Primary School Primary
- Market Drayton Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Market Drayton Junior School Primary
- Moreton Say CofE Primary School Primary
- Norton-in-Hales CofE Primary School Primary
- St Mary's CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Grove School teach?
- The Grove School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Market Drayton.
- Who is the headteacher of The Grove School?
- The headteacher of The Grove School is Mr Mitchell Allsopp, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Grove School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Grove 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 The Grove School?
- The Grove School has 856 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Grove School full?
- The Grove School has capacity for 1,206 pupils and 856 on roll (71%), so it has space against 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 The Grove School a faith school?
- No. The Grove School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Grove School a selective school?
- No. The Grove School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Grove School?
- The Grove 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.
- How have The Grove School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43 in 2022/23 and 39.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Grove School rank locally?
- The Grove School ranked 18th of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 37% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Grove School's absence rate?
- The Grove School's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Grove School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Grove 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 10 July 2026.