Chesterton Community Sports College

Chesterton Community Sports College is a highly inclusive school where pupils feel safe, supported and valued. Inspectors found strong standards in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils behave exceptionally well, lessons are calm and disruption-free, and attendance is in line with the national average and improving, with pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils attending above national levels. Bullying and discrimination are rare, suspensions are below average, and pastoral care is a significant strength. Safeguarding standards are met. The school has an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum and provides strong personal development, careers advice and a wide range of opportunities. Leaders know pupils well, support staff effectively, and work productively with governors, trustees, parents and the community. However, achievement is the main concern: published key stage 4 data is below the national average, with underperformance in some subjects and for particular pupil groups over time. Some pupils, including middle prior attainers, are not as well prepared for their next steps as they should be. Curriculum and teaching and leadership and governance meet expected standards, but monitoring is not consistently precise enough to ensure standards are consistent across all areas. The school is part of Collective Vision Trust and serves 903 pupils, with a high proportion of pupils receiving SEN support and above-average location deprivation. Next steps are to strengthen analysis of all aspects of the school's work and raise achievement at the end of key stage 4, especially for middle prior attainers.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school with detailed knowledge of individual pupils and early identification of needs.
• Strong attendance overall and above national average for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Culture of high expectations with consistently excellent pupil behaviour and disruption-free lessons.
• Warm, respectful relationships between staff and pupils that build resilience and motivation.
• Bullying and discrimination are rare and dealt with effectively; suspensions are below national average.
• Rigorous monitoring and tailored support help pupils with SEND make progress and attend regularly.
• Evidence-informed pupil premium strategy supports disadvantaged pupils' progress and attendance.
• Internal alternative provision keeps vulnerable pupils engaged in a broad, balanced curriculum.
• Strong personal development curriculum that is well sequenced, age appropriate and inclusive.
• Comprehensive careers programme with impartial advice and employer engagement.
• Pastoral care is a significant strength, with coordinated wellbeing support and timely targeted help.
• Wide range of trips, visits, creative learning weeks and pupil leadership roles.
• Ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum, including Spanish for all pupils at key stage 4.
• Inclusive curriculum prioritises crucial knowledge and supports vocabulary and spelling development.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and typically address misconceptions effectively.
• Regular quizzes and precise feedback help strengthen pupils' understanding.
• Assessment is used well to adapt teaching and provide extra support.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's context and clear improvement priorities.
• Governors and trustees are highly committed, share a clear vision and use resources effectively.
• Staff feel well supported, workload is managed, and retention is high.
• Effective engagement with parents and the community, including collaboration with local schools.
• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe and well cared for.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and show respect and tolerance.
• Interventions in reading, writing and mathematics help pupils keep up with their peers.

Areas for Improvement

• Published key stage 4 data is below the national average.
• Examination results show underperformance in some subjects and for particular pupil groups over time.
• Some pupils are less well prepared for their next steps than they should be.
• GCSE English and maths grade 5+ results are below national average.
• Attainment 8 is below national average in the latest year.
• Disadvantaged pupils' GCSE grade 5+ attainment was below national average in 2024/25.
• Leaders' monitoring is not consistently precise enough to identify where further action is needed.
• Standards are not consistent across all aspects of the school's work.
• Leaders need to strengthen analysis of all aspects of the school's work to evaluate impact.
• Leaders need to raise achievement at the end of key stage 4, especially for middle prior attainers.
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should in examinations.

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 Chesterton Community Sports College attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.0% 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, 1.4% of pupils at Chesterton Community Sports College 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 Chesterton Community Sports College had 16.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% 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, 30.7% of pupils at Chesterton Community Sports College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 Chesterton Community Sports College received £7,383 and spent £7,949 for each of its 904 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £811,000 (£897 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Collective Vision Trust, income was £7,093 and spending £7,352 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 Newcastle · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Chesterton Community Sports College is part of Collective Vision Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Churchfields Primary School Newcastle
• Chesterton Primary School Newcastle-Under-Lyme
• Crackley Bank Primary School Newcastle
• Bursley Academy Newcastle
• Woore Primary and Nursery School Crewe
• Cheswardine Primary and Nursery School Market Drayton
• Hinstock Primary School Market Drayton

What is Chesterton Community Sports College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Chesterton Community Sports College is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Chesterton Community Sports College last inspected by Ofsted?

Chesterton Community Sports College was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Chesterton Community Sports College have?

Chesterton Community Sports College has 915 pupils on roll.

What age range does Chesterton Community Sports College cover?

Chesterton Community Sports College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Chesterton Community Sports College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.8, and 26% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Chesterton Community Sports College?

Chesterton Community Sports College is at Castle Street, Chesterton, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 7LP.