Harlington School

Harlington School is a happy, welcoming and safe place where pupils feel well supported. Behaviour has improved over the last year, the learning environment is mostly calm and low-level disruption has reduced, and bullying is rare and dealt with effectively. Pupils benefit from strong pastoral and academic support, including mental health and counselling, and sixth-form students value the support they receive. The curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND. Inspectors saw effective teaching approaches and a new reading strategy that helps weaker readers and pupils learning English as an additional language. Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and well supported in the designated unit and specialist provision. Attendance is improving, and personal development, careers guidance and wider opportunities are strong. Safeguarding is effective. There are still areas to improve. In some subjects, assessment is not used consistently well to identify and address misconceptions, and feedback is not always used by pupils to improve their work, so achievement varies. The new behaviour approach is not yet fully understood or consistently applied by all staff, which means some pupils struggle to meet expectations. Leaders are focused on improvement and staff feel supported.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and happy in a welcoming school.
• Behaviour has improved and low-level disruption has reduced.
• Staff build strong relationships with pupils, including those with SEND.
• Strong pastoral and academic support includes mental health support and counselling.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with SEND.
• Effective teaching approaches help pupils know and remember more.
• Pupils with SEND are identified promptly and supported well.
• The designated unit and specialist provision provide a nurturing environment.
• A new reading strategy identifies weaker readers and provides targeted support.
• Personal development teaches pupils about faiths, healthy relationships and consent.
• Careers guidance and wider opportunities, including trips, clubs and volunteering, are strong.
• Attendance is improving through monitoring and support from trusted staff.
• Sixth-form students are well supported by staff who understand how they learn.
• Leaders are focused on improvement and staff feel well supported.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, assessment is not used well enough to check and address misconceptions promptly.
• Some teachers do not ensure pupils use feedback to improve their work.
• Achievement varies across subjects, and some pupils are not supported sufficiently to achieve as highly as they might.
• The new behaviour approach is not fully understood or consistently applied by all staff.
• Some pupils struggle to meet the school's high behaviour expectations because of inconsistent application.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Harlington School attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.0% of pupils at Harlington School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Harlington School had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.4% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.6% of pupils at Harlington School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 17 pupils and resourced provision with 3 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Harlington School received £9,212 and spent £9,227 for each of its 1,409 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £104,000 (£74 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hillingdon · Hillingdon local authority: places and applications

What is Harlington School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Harlington School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Harlington School last inspected by Ofsted?

Harlington School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Harlington School have?

Harlington School has 1,409 pupils on roll.

What age range does Harlington School cover?

Harlington School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Harlington School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.8, and 42% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Harlington School?

Harlington School is at Pinkwell Lane, Harlington, Hayes, UB3 1PB.