Amery Hill School

Amery Hill School is a mainstream secondary and single-academy trust inspected in July 2026. It has a close-to-average number of pupils but a well-above-average proportion of pupils with SEND, including those with EHC plans, and a below-average proportion eligible for free school meals. Safeguarding standards are met. Overall, the school is performing securely: personal development and wellbeing is a standout strength, while achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all at the expected standard. Attendance and behaviour is the area needing attention, not because of behaviour—pupils’ behaviour is superb—but because disadvantaged pupils do not attend often enough and persistent absence for this group is too high. The strongest features are the caring, inclusive ethos and the quality of pastoral care. Pupils feel safe, known and well supported, and they behave exceptionally well in a calm, purposeful environment. Leaders provide a broad, ambitious curriculum with effective support for SEND and disadvantaged pupils, strong careers education, and an extensive enrichment and leadership offer. Teachers generally explain content clearly and help pupils practise and recall knowledge, and leaders have an accurate view of provision with effective staff training and trustee challenge. The main areas for further work are attendance and consistency in teaching. Leaders should strengthen their attendance strategy to reduce persistent absence, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. They should also ensure all teachers use ongoing checks on learning consistently to adapt their teaching so pupils achieve highly across subjects. Disadvantaged pupils’ progress has been weaker than national in at least one recent year, which aligns with these priorities.

Strengths

• Exceptional pastoral support and pupil welfare that help pupils feel safe and cared for
• Strong personal, social and health curriculum that prepares pupils well for adult life
• Superb pupil behaviour and a calm, respectful, focused learning environment
• Highly inclusive culture with effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• Effective literacy and numeracy support that helps pupils access the wider curriculum
• Extensive enrichment programme, including pupil-led clubs and leadership roles
• Careers education is a significant strength, with personalised guidance and work experience
• Strong leadership and governance, including skilled trustees and effective staff development
• Positive relationships with parents and carers
• Pupils achieve in line with national averages and are well prepared for next steps
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance and persistent absence remain too high
• Some variability in how consistently teachers use ongoing checks to adapt teaching
• Disadvantaged pupils’ Progress 8 was below national average in 2023/24

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 Amery Hill School attended 90.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.1% 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, 4.3% of pupils at Amery Hill 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 Amery Hill School had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.5% 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, 24.6% of pupils at Amery Hill School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.0% 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 Amery Hill School received £7,570 and spent £7,619 for each of its 991 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,054,000 (£1,064 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 Alton · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

What is Amery Hill School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Amery Hill School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Amery Hill School last inspected by Ofsted?

Amery Hill School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Amery Hill School have?

Amery Hill School has 982 pupils on roll.

What age range does Amery Hill School cover?

Amery Hill School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Amery Hill School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.3, and 57% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Amery Hill School?

Amery Hill School is at Amery Hill, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 2BZ.