Hartismere School

Hartismere School is a strong, harmonious and welcoming secondary school where pupils are well cared for and expected to achieve highly. Inspectors found that most pupils engage well with a broad curriculum, achieve well by the end of Year 11 and Year 13, and benefit from effective support for special educational needs and disabilities and for reading. Personal development is a particular strength: pupils have an exceptional range of trips, clubs, speakers, competitive sport and charity responsibilities, and careers education prepares them well for their next steps. Behaviour is generally very good, safeguarding is effective, and many parents and staff speak highly of the school. The main areas for improvement are more precise assessment in a few subjects and better evaluation of the school’s own impact. In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ learning closely enough, so pupils who need extra help can find work too hard while others who are ready for more challenge can find it too easy. This also affects some pupils with SEND in those subjects. Leaders and governors also lack an accurate overview of how well some actions are working, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. A small number of disadvantaged pupils do not always attend, behave or achieve as well as their peers. The school is part of Hartismere Family of Schools, has co-headteachers, and was receiving its first routine inspection since the pandemic; it was previously exempt from routine inspection and had been judged outstanding in 2014.

Strengths

• Calm, harmonious and welcoming community with strong pupil well-being support
• High expectations and strong achievement across a broad curriculum
• Exceptional personal development provision through trips, clubs, speakers and charity work
• High-quality careers education and appropriate next-step destinations
• Effective SEND identification and support, including specialist expertise
• Strong reading catch-up support that helps pupils improve significantly
• Most pupils attend and behave very well and treat others respectfully
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Many parents, carers and staff praise the school and feel staff well-being is considered

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ learning precisely enough
• Some pupils find work too hard or too easy because assessment is not well matched
• Pupils with SEND do not always build knowledge well in subjects with weaker assessment
• Leaders and governors do not have an accurate overview of the impact of their actions
• A small number of disadvantaged pupils do not always attend, behave or achieve as well as peers

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 Hartismere School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.7% 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, 5.5% of pupils at Hartismere School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Hartismere School had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.2% 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 Hartismere School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 2024–25 Hartismere School received £7,236 and spent £7,957 for each of its 1,051 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £572,000 (£544 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Hartismere Family of Schools, income was £7,467 and spending £7,658 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Eye · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

Hartismere School is part of Hartismere Family of Schools, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Carlton Colville Primary School Lowestoft
• Somerleyton Primary School Lowestoft
• Woods Loke Primary School Lowestoft
• Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics Lowestoft
• Ludham Primary School and Nursery Great Yarmouth

What is Hartismere School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hartismere School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Hartismere School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hartismere School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Hartismere School have?

Hartismere School has 1,062 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hartismere School cover?

Hartismere School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Hartismere School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.4, and 57% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Hartismere School?

Hartismere School is at Castleton Way, Eye, Suffolk, IP23 7BL.