High Tunstall College of Science Review 2026: Inclusive 11 to 16 provision with strong personal development, and a clear improvement agenda for learning

A calm, purposeful secondary where inclusion is not an add-on, it is part of how the place runs day to day. The most recent Ofsted inspection (28 and 29 January 2025) graded behaviour and attitudes as Good, personal development as Good, and both quality of education and leadership and management as Requires Improvement, which frames the school’s current story: the culture and support systems are widely working, while curriculum delivery and consistency in learning remain the priority areas.

The college serves students aged 11 to 16 and is a foundation school in Hartlepool, with resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including autism, medical and physical disabilities, and moderate learning difficulties.

For families weighing local options, this is a school to consider if you want a structured day, visible pastoral systems, and a broad offer beyond lessons, while accepting that the school is still working to make learning consistently strong across subjects.

The most consistent thread across official information is that students feel safe, known, and supported. The latest inspection describes a school where pupils are happy and secure, and where pastoral care is a clear strength, with positive relationships between pupils and staff. That matters in an 11 to 16 setting because it is the foundation for attendance, engagement, and behaviour.

Leadership opportunities are a distinctive part of the culture. Students take on roles through a leadership academy, and the school highlights structured student contribution, including a “make a difference” team supporting peers and “pupil poet laureates” writing for key occasions. The implication is that personal development is designed, not left to chance, which may suit students who gain confidence through responsibility and public-facing roles.

In practice, this emphasis on inclusion also shows up in how the school talks about additional needs. High Tunstall operates resourced provisions and publishes SEND materials, including programmes and therapies referenced in inclusion documentation. For families navigating SEND, that visibility can be reassuring, particularly where the mainstream day can still be accessed with the right scaffolding.

Headteacher leadership is clearly signposted across the school’s own pages. The headteacher is Mr M Tilling, and external civic profile information indicates he has been at High Tunstall since 2010.

High Tunstall’s current academic picture is best read as “mixed, with clear targets for improvement”. In the FindMySchool ranking for GCSE outcomes, the school is ranked 2,734th in England and 4th in Hartlepool, placing it in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile). These rankings are FindMySchool calculations based on official data and are useful for comparing like with like locally.

At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 44.4 and Progress 8 is -0.32. For parents, the Progress 8 figure is the more diagnostic measure: a negative score indicates that, on average, students made less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points.

The EBacc indicators are also worth understanding. The percentage achieving grades 5 or above in the EBacc is 5.2%, and the EBacc average point score is 3.6. This does not mean ambition is absent, it often reflects entry patterns and curriculum choices, but it does highlight that the EBacc route is not currently a headline strength in the published figures.

It is also important to anchor this performance data against the latest inspection narrative. The January 2025 report describes a broad and ambitious curriculum with variable impact, where pupils’ depth of knowledge and what they remember is uneven across subjects. That closely aligns with the picture suggested by Progress 8.

Parents comparing results across nearby schools can use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to view these measures side by side, particularly Progress 8 and Attainment 8, which often reveal more than raw pass rates.

The school’s improvement agenda is most visible in how it talks about curriculum and how the inspection describes classroom practice. Teaching is characterised by subject specialists who explain concepts clearly, and lessons are typically focused and free from distractions. That is an important baseline, especially in a large 11 to 16 school, because it supports predictable routines and calmer learning environments.

Where the school is still developing is the consistency of checking, correcting, and closing gaps. The inspection describes variability in how teachers check understanding and address misconceptions, which can lead to uneven progression through the curriculum. For parents, the implication is that outcomes may depend more than ideal on subject area and class experience, and it becomes especially important to ask, at open events, how the school ensures consistent practice across departments.

Reading is a specific current focus. The inspection indicates work to improve reading has begun but is still early-stage, with identification of the weakest readers not yet consistent across the school. In an 11 to 16 setting, this is a major lever: reading confidence underpins access to every subject, particularly humanities, science, and GCSE exam technique.

For students with SEND, the school identifies needs quickly and provides detailed strategies to staff, with specialist support for those accessing resourced provision. The inspection’s key caveat is that pupils with SEND are still affected by the same curriculum inconsistencies as their peers, so progress depends not only on support plans but also on subject delivery.

High Tunstall is an 11 to 16 school, so all students make a post-16 transition at the end of Year 11. The school places strong emphasis on careers education and decision-making for next steps, including employer engagement and work experience, which matters in Hartlepool where routes into further education, sixth forms, apprenticeships, and employment can look quite different from one student to the next.

The school describes destinations spanning Russell Group universities through to apprenticeships, but it does not publish specific destination numbers in the sources reviewed here, so it is better treated as qualitative positioning rather than a measurable destination pipeline.

For families, the practical implication is straightforward: you should evaluate Year 10 and Year 11 careers provision as part of the decision, especially for students likely to pursue technical routes. Ask what the careers programme includes, who delivers it, and how the school supports applications for colleges, apprenticeships, or training providers.

Admissions for Year 7 entry are coordinated through the local authority process for the normal admissions round. For September 2026 entry in Hartlepool, the published closing date for applications is 31 October 2025, and families are advised of outcomes on 1 March 2026 (or the next working day). The Hartlepool guidance also notes that secondary schools typically hold open events in September and October, and that late applications have a cut-off in January 2026 for changes and processing in that cycle.

High Tunstall is its own admission authority and, for September 2026, intends to admit up to 270 students into Year 7. Its oversubscription criteria include children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, looked-after and previously looked-after children, sibling priority, partner primary schools (with admission zones), and then distance as a tie-breaker using the local authority’s distance measurement approach.

If you are assessing likelihood of entry, distance and priority criteria matter, but demand levels can change year to year. Families considering this route should use the FindMySchool Map Search to understand their distance and the practical travel implications, then confirm how the admission authority applies distance for the relevant year group.

The school’s pastoral picture is a strength in the latest official evidence. Students are described as safe and supported, with strong care systems and positive relationships between pupils and staff. The school’s personal development programme is also described as effective, with a wide range of opportunities that help students develop interests and talents, and student leadership roles that encourage contribution and responsibility.

Attendance work is highlighted as effective, with the school supporting pupils and families to sustain regular attendance. The implication for families is that the school is actively managing the fundamentals, which tends to correlate with calmer daily routines and fewer disruptions to learning time.

Safeguarding is an area where parents should always seek clear reassurance. The January 2025 inspection confirms safeguarding arrangements are effective.

A useful way to understand High Tunstall is through the pillars it foregrounds: sport and physical activity, creative arts, and structured student leadership.

Creative arts are strongly branded through the Creative Arts Academy. The school reports a programme of performances and productions, including recent staged work such as Matilda the Musical, with multiple performances in July 2025. This signals sustained rehearsal culture and a performance pipeline that goes beyond occasional school shows, which can suit students who thrive on public performance and collaborative production work.

Sport and physical activity are prominent through Tunstall Active, which lists facilities including a 3G pitch, gym, sports hall, multi-use games area, swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool, and an activity studio. The implication is twofold: there is capacity for both curricular physical education and wider community or enrichment use, and there is likely to be a strong offer for students who benefit from routine exercise as part of wellbeing.

Leadership and enrichment are reinforced through the student roles referenced in the inspection report, and the expectation that students take the lead in clubs. This matters because it suggests extracurricular life is partly student-driven, which can be particularly motivating for teenagers who want ownership rather than being passengers in school life.

The school also publicises an annual calendar that includes academic and enrichment events, such as the UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge, and trips including a Spain water sports visit. These details matter because they show a broad offer even in a school without a sixth form, and they give parents concrete examples to ask about when evaluating access and uptake.

The school day is structured around an 8:30 start and a 3:00pm finish, and the school indicates students should arrive by 8:25. A breakfast club is available from 8:00am.

For transport planning, the key practical factor is peak-time traffic and drop-off congestion, which the school acknowledges by advising families to aim for an earlier drop-off. For after-school routines, the breadth of clubs and leadership commitments means some students will be on site beyond 3:00pm on activity days, so families should plan travel around the student’s specific timetable.

• Quality of education is not yet consistently strong. The latest inspection graded quality of education as Requires Improvement, citing variation in how well pupils secure and retain key knowledge. This may suit students who are resilient and well-supported at home, but it is a key area to probe at open events.

• Reading support is still developing. The school has begun work to improve reading but the approach is described as early-stage, with inconsistent identification of the weakest readers. Students who need structured literacy intervention should ask what screening and support looks like in Year 7 and Year 8.

• No sixth form, so post-16 planning matters early. Because students move on after Year 11, the quality of careers guidance and transition support is central. Families should ask how the school supports applications and what partnerships exist with local providers.

• Admissions priorities are specific. Partner primary and sibling criteria can shape entry patterns, and distance is used as a tie-breaker. Families should read the admission rules carefully for their year of entry and avoid assumptions based on older cycles.

High Tunstall College of Science stands out most clearly for inclusion, personal development, and a well-signposted wider-life offer, with sport, creative arts, and student leadership all visible in official evidence. The challenge lies in raising consistency of learning across subjects, and in strengthening reading support so more students can access the full curriculum securely. Best suited to families who value strong pastoral systems and enrichment opportunities, and who are comfortable engaging proactively with the school’s improvement priorities as they consider GCSE years and post-16 routes.