Cottingham High School

Cottingham High School is a larger-than-average 11-16 secondary school within The Consortium Academy Trust. Following its May 2026 inspection, the school is meeting expected standards across the inspected areas, and safeguarding standards are met. Pupils feel safe, are cared for and generally achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school has notable strengths in inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development, and the quality of relationships between staff and pupils. The curriculum is broad and well considered, and pupils benefit from strong careers education and a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. The context of the school has changed significantly: its sixth form closed in September 2025, and it now serves pupils aged 11 to 16. Leaders, trustees and the wider trust are described as knowledgeable and joined-up, with a clear focus on care and improvement. Staff are generally positive about their professional learning, wellbeing and workload, and pupils typically behave well. Attendance remains close to the national average, although persistent absence is above average and remains a focus for improvement, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Inspectors identified several areas for further work. Some teachers do not apply the behaviour policy consistently, and in a few subjects curriculum teaching is less well thought out, meaning pupils do not always know and remember essential information. Some support for pupils is not as effective as it could be, and disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps remain despite recent improvement. Leaders should continue to use attendance data to tackle barriers, ensure consistent use of the behaviour policy, and strengthen the consistency and impact of curriculum teaching.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified and managed.
• Pupils feel safe, enjoy school and benefit from caring, supportive relationships with staff.
• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, generally achieve well and make clear progress from their starting points.
• Attendance remains close to the national average, and leaders have a well-considered approach to improving it further.
• Behaviour is generally calm and purposeful, and bullying or discriminatory language is uncommon and dealt with swiftly.
• The curriculum is broad and well considered, and teachers generally have secure subject knowledge.
• Inclusion is effective, with leaders identifying barriers and providing appropriate support, including through the Thrive Centre and alternative provision.
• Leadership, governance and trust arrangements are knowledgeable, joined-up and focused on care and improvement.
• Personal development is well planned, with strong careers education and a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities.
• Staff are positive about professional learning, wellbeing and workload and are proud to work at the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence is above the national average, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• Some teachers do not apply the behaviour policy consistently.
• In a few subjects, some aspects of curriculum teaching are less well thought out, so pupils do not always know and remember essential information.
• Some of the school's support for pupils is not as effective as it could be.
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps remain, including in English and maths and Progress 8, despite recent improvement.
• Leaders need to strengthen the consistency of curriculum teaching and ensure barriers to pupils' success are swiftly and effectively addressed.

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 Cottingham High School attended 90.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 27.7% 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, 11.5% of pupils at Cottingham High 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 Cottingham High School had 15.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 30.0% 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, 19.5% of pupils at Cottingham High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.4% 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 Cottingham High School received £8,071 and spent £8,323 for each of its 876 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,441,000 (£1,645 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Consortium Academy Trust, income was £7,965 and spending £8,016 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 Cottingham · East Riding of Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

Cottingham High School is part of The Consortium Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Croxby Primary School Hull
• Wolfreton School and Sixth Form College Hull
• Hessle High School and Penshurst Primary School Hessle
• Winifred Holtby Academy Hull
• Oakfield School Hull
• Holderness Academy Hull
• Keyingham Primary School Kingston-Upon-Hull
• Howden School Goole

What is Cottingham High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cottingham High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Cottingham High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cottingham High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Cottingham High School have?

Cottingham High School has 826 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cottingham High School cover?

Cottingham High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Cottingham High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.6, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Cottingham High School?

Cottingham High School is at Harland Way, Cottingham, East Yorkshire, HU16 5PX.