Moorside High School

Moorside High School is recognized for its inclusive and ambitious educational environment, achieving a 'Good' overall effectiveness rating. Since opening, the school has seen significant changes in curriculum structure, with positive impacts noted by pupils regarding behavior and academic engagement. Staff members demonstrate high aspirations for students, leading to improvements in pupil conduct and confidence in addressing wellbeing concerns. The school successfully supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and provides extensive opportunities for extracurricular involvement, including careers guidance and performing arts.

Strengths

• Inclusive and welcoming school environment
• High ambitions for all pupils
• Effective support for pupils with SEND
• Strong provision of extracurricular activities
• High expectations for pupil behavior
• Clear approach to identifying pupils needing extra support
• Engaged pupils in reading programs

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistency in teachers checking pupils' understanding
• Parental concerns about recent changes at the school

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 Moorside High School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.7% 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, 8.5% of pupils at Moorside High 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 Moorside High School had 17.0 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, 14.8% of pupils at Moorside High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.6% 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 Moorside High School received £7,962 and spent £7,846 for each of its 769 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £235,000 (£306 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Potteries Educational Trust, income was £7,115 and spending £7,012 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 Stoke-On-Trent · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

Moorside High School is part of Potteries Educational Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Werrington Primary School Stoke-On-Trent
• City of Stoke-On-Trent Sixth Form College Stoke-On-Trent
• Biddulph High School Stoke-On-Trent

What is Moorside High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Moorside High School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was Moorside High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Moorside High School was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does Moorside High School have?

Moorside High School has 766 pupils on roll.

What age range does Moorside High School cover?

Moorside High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Moorside High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.5, and 42% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Moorside High School?

Moorside High School is at Cellarhead Road, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST9 0HP.