Haberdashers' Abraham Darby Review 2026: A community secondary with a clear improvement focus

The defining story here is momentum. After a period of turbulence, the academy has put a sharper structure around behaviour, attendance and communication, with a renewed pastoral and leadership model intended to make daily routines more consistent for students and staff. Formal monitoring in October 2024 pointed to a calmer learning climate and a clearer sense of accountability, while also making it plain that consistency still needs to deepen, especially for a smaller group of students who find attendance and engagement harder to sustain.

The offer is straightforward, an 11 to 18 state school with a house system, an established sixth form, and a broad extracurricular programme that leans into music, sport and enrichment. The challenge is equally clear, the school is still working its way out of a Requires Improvement position and families should expect improvement work to remain a live priority across the next inspection cycle.

The academy presents itself as values-led, with Aspiration, Respect and Excellence used as everyday reference points, rather than marketing slogans. These values show up explicitly in reward routines, punctuality expectations, and how staff frame “ready to learn” behaviours at the start of lessons.

There is a distinct identity built around the house structure. Darwin House is one of the named houses, and the wider house framework is described as central to belonging, participation and student leadership. House points are not just decorative either, they connect to celebration days and recognition routines that students can see and understand.

Leadership stability matters in a school at this stage. Mrs Joe Edgar is the current Principal, and the school community newsletter sets out her appointment to the permanent role, after a period as Acting Principal. The October 2024 monitoring visit also references a leadership restructure designed to create clearer lines of responsibility, including the addition of a senior vice principal role to strengthen oversight.

A useful way to understand day-to-day tone is to look at what the school chooses to timetable when the day begins. The school day starts at 08:30 with a mentor session that covers assemblies, personal development, reflection and reading, which signals a deliberate attempt to make routines, relationships and literacy part of the core experience rather than an add-on.

This is an 11 to 18 school, so parents should look at both GCSE and sixth form outcomes, and then ask how securely the school is improving the foundations that make results sustainable, behaviour, attendance and consistent classroom routines.

GCSE outcomes

Ranked 3,309th in England and 7th in Telford for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the school sits below England average overall.

The underlying indicators point to a cohort that, on average, does not achieve as strongly as many comparable schools nationally. Average Attainment 8 is 39.7, while Progress 8 is -0.73, which indicates students tend to make less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally. EBacc measures are also a clear weak spot in the published data, with 2.3% achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc suite and an EBacc average point score of 3.29 compared with the England benchmark of 4.08.

What this means in practice is that families should ask very specific questions about curriculum pathways, language uptake, and the academic scaffolding offered to students who arrive with gaps in literacy and numeracy. Where the school is credible is in being explicit about tightening classroom routines and aligning behaviour systems with consistent starts to lessons, which is the kind of operational work that can unlock better academic performance over time.

Sixth form outcomes

Ranked 2,134th in England and 5th in Telford for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), sixth form results also sit below England average overall.

In the most recent published outcomes, 29.86% of entries achieved A* to B, compared with an England reference of 47.2% for A* to B. At the very top end, 2.08% achieved A*, and 8.33% achieved A.

The implication is not that ambitious students should avoid the sixth form, but that success here is likely to depend on making sensible course choices and meeting clear entry thresholds. The school’s published entry requirements are unusually detailed by subject, with higher thresholds for certain A-levels, for example Mathematics and the separate sciences. That transparency is helpful for families because it supports realistic planning rather than vague optimism.

The curriculum intent at Key Stage 3 is framed around six core principles, including “Know and Recall More” and a strong emphasis on reading, writing and speaking. This is a traditional, knowledge-led direction of travel and it aligns with the school’s wider push for consistent routines.

There is also a practical layer to how the school tries to rebuild learning habits. A daily mentor period is used in part for structured reading time, described in curriculum documentation as PRIME time, designed to build reading skill and reading confidence. For students who have had disrupted learning, that kind of steady repetition can be more valuable than occasional interventions.

In a school with improvement priorities, the key question for parents is consistency, does the planned curriculum feel the same from classroom to classroom, and do students experience predictable expectations across the day. Monitoring evidence from 2024 points to calmer and more focused learning in lessons observed, alongside an acknowledgement that a smaller group of students still need support to stay engaged and attend lessons reliably.

For many families, the most useful destinations information is practical rather than prestige-focused, what students actually go on to do, and whether the school supports a wide range of pathways.

For the most recent published cohort of 78 leavers, 41% progressed to university, 8% moved into apprenticeships, and 36% went into employment.

Alongside these broad outcomes, the school also publishes a destinations list on its careers pages, naming universities and subject pathways. The list includes destinations such as Cardiff University, the University of Leicester and the University of Manchester, among others, which helps families see the range of routes students take.

For sixth formers considering alternatives, the school’s own positioning is that the sixth form is inclusive but careful about course fit. That framing matters given the published grade profile, students who select courses that match their GCSE strengths, and who can commit to strong attendance and punctuality expectations, are more likely to do well than those who pick aspirational combinations without the right foundations.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Admissions for Year 7 are coordinated through the local authority, not directly with the school.

The academy’s Published Admission Number for Year 7 is 180. If applications exceed that number, oversubscription criteria apply. The published admissions policy also notes that the school typically runs an open evening in the autumn term, usually at the beginning of October, plus daytime tours for prospective families.

For September 2026 entry, the local authority published a clear timetable, applications closed on 31 October 2025, offers are due on 02 March 2026, and appeals deadlines then follow in spring. If you are reading this after the main deadline, the school also publishes practical guidance about appeals timing for Year 7.

Sixth form entry (Year 12)

Sixth form applications are made directly to the school. For the current cycle, the published closing date for applications was mid-January 2026, with interviews typically in January and offers later in February. Because these dates move each year, families looking ahead should assume a similar mid-January pattern and check the school’s latest sixth form page for the current timetable.

Entry requirements are explicit. Students need at least six GCSEs at grade 4 or above including English and Maths, plus subject-specific thresholds, for example grade 6 expectations for some A-level pathways. Attendance, punctuality and behaviour expectations are also stated as part of sixth form readiness.

As a practical tool, families shortlisting local options should use the FindMySchool comparison features to view nearby sixth forms side-by-side, particularly on sixth form grade distributions and the balance of academic and applied routes.

Pastoral structure is one of the biggest levers in a school working on behaviour and attendance. Here, the school has moved towards a more year-focused mentor system with additional staffing, intended to improve responsiveness to students’ needs. Monitoring evidence describes clearer staff confidence in systems, and a day-to-day experience that feels more predictable for students.

Safeguarding is described as tightly connected to attendance work, with systems designed to identify vulnerable pupils, manage disclosures, and take timely action when concerns arise. In practice, this matters because persistent absence is often linked to wider barriers, mental health, family stress, or disengagement. A school that links pastoral tracking to safeguarding decisions is better placed to respond early, rather than waiting for problems to become entrenched.

For students who need targeted support, the school also positions itself as inclusive in its SEND approach, with an ethos that “every pupil is an individual”. Parents of children with additional needs should still request detail on staffing, intervention timetables and how progress is reviewed, but the stated intent is clear and visible across policy and curriculum documents.

The extracurricular programme is unusually specific and well-documented, which is helpful because it shows what students can actually do after 15:00 rather than vague promises.

On the enrichment side, examples include Cyber First Girls, Cyber Explorers, Film Club, Pride Club, Chess Club, a Nintendo Society, and an H.F. Club aimed at roleplayers, wargamers and crafting. This mix suggests the school is trying to offer belonging points for a wide range of identities and interests, which can be important for engagement, especially in Key Stage 3.

Music is another visible pillar. The programme listed includes Showband, Choir, Junior Jazz, a Saxophone Ensemble, a Percussion Ensemble, plus a Saturday Music College. These kinds of structured ensembles tend to reward consistency and teamwork, and they offer a concrete route for students who thrive when they can rehearse towards a performance goal.

Sport is present with organised sessions across year groups, including netball and rugby, plus activities such as badminton and cross country. For many students, after-school sport is not just fitness, it can also be a behavioural anchor because it attaches the school day to a positive routine and a peer group.

The school day starts at 08:30, with the day structured to begin with a mentor period, and the published finish time is 15:00, although many students stay later for clubs and interventions.

As a secondary school, there is not the same wraparound care model as in primary. Instead, the practical question is enrichment and supervised study after 15:00. The school publishes a termly clubs offer, and families should check the current timetable each year because activities vary by term.

Transport arrangements depend heavily on where you live in the Telford and Madeley area, and some families will rely on local bus routes or car drop-off. If you are weighing options across multiple schools, FindMySchoolMap Search is the best way to sanity-check real travel distance and time before assuming a routine will work long term.

• Requires Improvement remains the headline judgement. The most recent graded inspection outcome is Requires Improvement, with behaviour and attitudes the weaker area at that point. Families should expect improvement work to remain central until a future graded inspection evidences sustained change.

• Consistency is improving, but not yet uniform for every student. Monitoring evidence points to calmer learning and clearer routines, but also acknowledges a smaller group of students still need support to attend lessons reliably. If your child has struggled with attendance or engagement in the past, ask what “day-to-day” support looks like, not just what exists on paper.

• EBacc outcomes are a clear weak point in the published data. If you want a strongly academic EBacc-heavy pathway, ask how languages are promoted, what support exists for humanities, and how the school encourages students towards academically facilitating combinations.

• Sixth form results suggest course fit matters. The sixth form is inclusive, but the grade profile indicates that students who meet subject thresholds and keep attendance strong are most likely to benefit. Use the published entry requirements as a realistic guide before committing.

Haberdashers' Abraham Darby is best understood as a community 11 to 18 school in active improvement mode, with clearer systems around routines, rewards and pastoral support than it had previously, and a documented extracurricular offer that gives many students a reason to feel part of the place. The key limitation is that outcomes remain below England average in both GCSE and sixth form measures, so academic confidence should be built through careful course choices, consistent attendance and strong engagement with the school’s expectations.

Who it suits: families seeking a local state secondary with a house system and a structured approach to behaviour and attendance, and students who respond well to clear routines plus enrichment in music, sport and clubs. Entry remains the primary hurdle for some year groups because the published admission number is fixed, so families should plan early around open events and local authority deadlines.