Thank you so much for visiting our school website. I am delighted that you have chosen to find out more about Hanley Castle High School. Hanley Castle has been a centre of educational excellence since Tudor times. However, it is now a high performing academy with a national reputation for innovative practice and state of the art facilities.
Hanley Castle has received national acclamation for its exam results. In 2016 the school received a letter from Nick Gibb, the Minister for Schools, congratulating us on being amongst the top 100 non-selective state-funded English school showing the greatest sustained improvement in the percentage of students achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics. Students celebrated excellent results in 2018 and 2019 and over 40% achieving the prestigious English Baccalaureate.
The post-pandemic results are even stronger with 34% of all passes were awarded at grades 7, 8 or 9. Almost 90% of students achieved a good pass in English, while a massive 49% achieved the prestigious English Baccalaureate – far ahead of the national and Worcestershire averages.
The school continues to move forward rapidly. Our magnificent new sixth form centre houses a sixth form library, computer suites, silent and group study spaces and a spacious common room to accommodate our growing post-16 numbers. A-level results in 2022 were our best ever.
Excellent A level results every year ensure that Hanley Castle students are studying at universities across the country, including Durham, St Andrews, Bath, Leeds, Exeter, Bristol and Nottingham. We currently have a number of students studying for first or post-graduate degrees at Oxford and Cambridge.
In June 2018 Hanley Castle was delighted to be named ‘Secondary School of the Year’ at the Worcestershire Education Awards. This accolade recognises the school’s all-round achievements – academic, sporting and in the Arts. Hanley Castle is an Artsmark and Sportsmark school with nationally accredited provision in music and drama. We are also a proud holder of the International Schools Award, and previously providing opportunities for students to experience travel to a number of European countries, as well as to China and Tanzania.
The school was delighted to welcome an Ofsted inspection team in June 2017. The full report can be accessed via this website, but we extremely pleased that the lead inspector recognised our passion for the success of every child, the ‘remarkable’ level of care provided, the very high quality of teaching, the wealth of enrichment activities and the very successful progression of our students into work, training or university.
Hanley Castle High School really is a unique school, and both staff and students are extremely proud of it. Visitors are always welcome. Just contact the school to arrange a tour and see our brilliant students in action.
Mark Stow
Headteacher