Charlton School

Charlton School is a friendly, respectful and well-cared-for secondary school where pupils feel safe, behave well and benefit from a broad personal development programme. Attendance and behaviour are graded expected standard, with improving attendance, declining persistent absence, calm and orderly behaviour, rare bullying, and effective support for pupils who struggle. Personal development and wellbeing are also expected standard, with a comprehensive curriculum, careers education from Year 7, wide enrichment, and strong pupil leadership opportunities. Safeguarding standards are met.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe, well cared for and know trusted adults will help with concerns.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils behave well; behaviour is calm and orderly around school and disruptions are addressed effectively.
• Bullying and discriminatory behaviour are rare and dealt with swiftly.
• Attendance has improved and persistent absence is declining, with SEND attendance above national averages.
• Personal development is comprehensive, well thought out and includes topics such as bullying, misogyny, self-esteem, addiction and digital safety.
• Pupils have access to a broad range of arts, music, sport, trips, clubs, Duke of Edinburgh and leadership opportunities.
• Careers education is embedded from Year 7 and pupils are well prepared for next steps; destinations after 16 are average.
• Staff morale is positive; staff feel valued, listened to and supported, and leaders are mindful of workload and wellbeing.
• Leaders have a clear vision and accurate understanding of what needs to improve, supported by positive parental engagement and trust/governance.
• Targeted interventions and whole-class reading strategies help pupils become confident readers.

Areas for Improvement

• Too many pupils do not achieve as well as they should from their starting points.
• National examination outcomes are below peers in English and maths GCSE and Progress 8 is below national.
• Disadvantaged pupils make weaker progress than their peers, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Teaching is inconsistent, so pupils’ progress through the curriculum varies across subjects.
• Teachers do not consistently check understanding well enough, so misconceptions and gaps are missed.
• Gaps in pupils’ important knowledge are not addressed before moving on to new learning.
• Support in lessons for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND is inconsistent and too variable.
• Teachers do not always receive clear enough information on how to adapt learning for pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils produce incomplete work or work that does not meet leaders’ expectations.
• Leaders’ work on handwriting, numeracy and oracy is at an early stage, limiting access to the curriculum.
• The impact of leadership and governance actions is not evident across all areas of the school.
• Improvements are not yet secure or sustainable and need robust action to lead to rapid progress.
• Some pupils with SEND do not learn the curriculum as successfully as they could, leaving knowledge gaps.

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 Charlton School attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.9% 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, 5.9% of pupils at Charlton 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 Charlton School had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.5% 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, 19.2% of pupils at Charlton School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.6% 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 Charlton School received £8,010 and spent £7,937 for each of its 1,242 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,193,000 (£960 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Learning Community Trust, income was £11,793 and spending £11,570 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 Telford · Telford and Wrekin local authority: places and applications

Charlton School is part of Learning Community Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Wrekin View Primary School Telford
• Ercall Wood Academy Telford
• Hadley Learning Community - Secondary Phase Telford
• Hadley Learning Community - Primary Phase Telford
• Allscott Meads Primary Academy Telford
• New Road Academy Telford
• Lantern Academy Telford
• Crudgington Primary School Telford
• Queensway Telford
• The Burton Borough School Newport

What is Charlton School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Charlton School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Charlton School last inspected by Ofsted?

Charlton School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Charlton School have?

Charlton School has 1,218 pupils on roll.

What age range does Charlton School cover?

Charlton School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Charlton School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.9, and 40% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Charlton School?

Charlton School is at Apley Avenue, Telford, TF1 3FA.