Hawkley Hall High School

Hawkley Hall High School is a mixed 11–16 academy converter within the Rowan Learning Trust. Following its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, the school was judged good across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Inspectors found a calm, inclusive culture where pupils are polite, happy, and generally respond well to high expectations. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, reading support is precise, pupils with SEND are well included, and personal development and careers provision are strong. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, considerate, and proud to act out the school’s values.
• The school has a calm atmosphere and high expectations for pupils’ achievement.
• Pupils with SEND are fully included and well supported.
• The curriculum is well designed, broad, and balanced.
• Leaders have increased the number of pupils following the English Baccalaureate suite.
• Staff use strong subject knowledge to help most pupils develop knowledge and skills securely.
• Reading needs are identified with precision and books are well matched to pupils’ stages.
• The school provides an impressive range of activities and experiences.
• Personal development prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Careers education is extensive and helps pupils move on to meaningful destinations.
• Support for attendance has reduced persistent absence.
• Trustees and governors carry out their duties effectively and make decisions in pupils’ best interests.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not use detailed information about pupils’ needs sufficiently well.
• Staff do not always promptly address gaps and misconceptions in pupils’ learning.
• Some activities do not help pupils develop sufficient depth of knowledge.
• Some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.
• The school should provide staff with training to design activities well matched to pupils’ needs.

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 Hawkley Hall High School attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.7% 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, 12.8% of pupils at Hawkley Hall High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 11 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 Hawkley Hall High School had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.0% 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, 13.3% of pupils at Hawkley Hall High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.7% 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 Hawkley Hall High School received £7,926 and spent £7,449 for each of its 1,164 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,051,000 (£903 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Rowan Learning Trust, income was £7,984 and spending £7,872 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 Wigan · Wigan local authority: places and applications

Hawkley Hall High School is part of The Rowan Learning Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Marus Bridge Primary School Wigan
• Orrell Lamberhead Green Academy Wigan
• Orrell Holgate Academy Wigan
• Prescot Primary School Prescot
• Kirkby High School Liverpool
• Farington Primary School Leyland
• Plantation Primary School Liverpool
• Whitley Village School Warrington
• The Heys School Manchester
• The Acorns Primary and Nursery School Ellesmere Port

What is Hawkley Hall High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hawkley Hall High School is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Hawkley Hall High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hawkley Hall High School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Hawkley Hall High School have?

Hawkley Hall High School has 1,170 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hawkley Hall High School cover?

Hawkley Hall High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Hawkley Hall High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.9, and 46% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Hawkley Hall High School?

Hawkley Hall High School is at Carr Lane, Hawkley Hall, Wigan, Lancashire, WN3 5NY.