The Telford Langley School Review 2026: Community-focused secondary in Dawley, Telford

A school can be both in active improvement and strongly people-centred, this one makes that tension explicit. The pastoral message, “You Matter, We Care”, sits alongside a curriculum that aims to be ambitious and knowledge-rich, with renewed emphasis on reading and structured support for students who need to catch up.

Leadership changed recently. Emma Blount was appointed headteacher from 01 September 2023, after serving as deputy head.

The most recent inspection (02 and 03 July 2024) judged the school Requires Improvement overall, with Personal Development graded Good.

For families, the practical picture is clear: an 11 to 16 secondary with a house system, a defined enrichment offer after lessons, and a school day that runs 08:30 to 15:00 (with breakfast club from 08:00).

The strongest organising idea is relational rather than ceremonial. Students are placed into houses (Chetwood, Ellis, Springwell, and Webb), and the structure appears designed to make pastoral contact direct and navigable, with named house leadership and year-group pathways.

The latest inspection paints a school where students generally feel safe and supported, and where staff are seen as approachable when issues arise. That matters because the school also uses pastoral bases, and a key theme is getting students back into learning time consistently, not simply keeping things calm.

Culture around personal development is more concrete than a generic “character” statement. Student leadership opportunities include reading ambassadors and sports ambassadors, and there is clear intent to link enrichment and responsibility to everyday school life rather than reserving it for a small group.

Leadership messaging reinforces this emphasis on recognition and belonging, including a stated aim that each pupil should have opportunities to “let their light shine”, across sport, productions, and wider enrichment.

On published GCSE performance measures, the school sits below England average in the FindMySchool outcomes distribution. The school’s GCSE outcomes rank is 3,679th in England and 8th in Telford for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), placing it below England average, within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this measure.

Two measures help explain why. Average Attainment 8 is 33.7, and Progress 8 is -1.04, which indicates that students, on average, make significantly less progress than students nationally with similar starting points.

The English Baccalaureate picture is also challenging. Average EBacc APS is 2.81 compared with 4.08 in England on the same measure, and the recorded proportion achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc is 1.7.

For parents, the implication is straightforward. This is not currently a results-led choice, and the strongest reason to consider the school is not raw attainment, it is fit, support, and whether the improvement work described in official review translates into consistently better progress for your child, especially if they have previously struggled with attendance, behaviour, or access to learning.

(Where families are comparing local options, the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tool can be useful for viewing GCSE measures side-by-side without relying on league-table headlines.)

The curriculum is described as ambitious and carefully sequenced, with the intent that all students, including those with SEND, study the same core curriculum with appropriate adaptations.

A recurring strength is reading. There is explicit emphasis on reading as a gateway skill, with structured support for students who are earlier in their reading development and a stated drive to keep improving practice.

Teaching quality, as described in the most recent inspection evidence, is uneven in a specific way. Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge, but checking students’ understanding is not consistently secure, which can lead to moving on too quickly and setting tasks that do not match what students are ready for.

Day-to-day learning is supported by common tools and routines. The school signposts students to knowledge organisers and digital learning platforms, including Microsoft Teams, Educake, and Sparx Maths, which can help families see what has been set and support independent study at home.

As an 11 to 16 school, the key destinations are post-16 providers, sixth forms, colleges, apprenticeships, and employment-linked training routes rather than internal progression to Year 12. The school provides careers and work-experience guidance that sets out typical entry requirements for Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 routes, and it actively prompts students to treat post-16 planning as a staged process, including creating back-up options.

Work experience is positioned as a practical bridge into the workplace, with students expected to take an active role in securing placements, supported by a structured process and guidance materials.

One important limitation for families with younger students is that the most recent inspection identifies a gap in Key Stage 3 encounters with technical and apprenticeship pathways, linked to provider access expectations.

The practical implication is that parents of Years 7 to 9 students may need to be slightly more proactive early on, asking how vocational and technical routes are being introduced, not only university-focused pathways in Year 10 and Year 11.

Year 7 places are coordinated through Telford and Wrekin’s secondary admissions process. For entry in September 2026, the council’s published closing date was 31 October 2025, and the same guidance sets out the wider timeline for outcomes and next steps.

If you are reading this after the closing date, late applications and appeals still exist as routes, but they operate on different rules and timescales than on-time applications. The school publishes information about appeals and in-year admissions, and families should use the local authority guidance for the authoritative timetable.

Open events appear to run annually in early autumn. Recent information points to an open evening cycle in late September and into October, with student-led and staff-led presentations. Since specific dates change year to year, use the school’s open evening page as the live reference point rather than relying on past dates.

(If catchment and distance are central to your decision, FindMySchool’s Map Search is the quickest way to sense-check how your home location compares with typical allocation patterns in your area.)

Pastoral systems are not presented as an add-on. The school frames support as a whole-community responsibility and links it to house structures and a consistent message about being known, listened to, and helped to re-engage.

The most recent evidence highlights a school that has taken steps to improve behaviour and overall calm, but where the lived impact is still mixed. Suspensions are described as high, and time spent out of lessons in pastoral bases is flagged as a factor that can reduce progress through the curriculum.

On the positive side, attendance is described as improving with active work to support families facing barriers, and personal development is a relative strength, helped by a structured PSHE curriculum delivered by a specialist team.

For parents, the key question is not whether support exists, it does. The question is how quickly the school can keep more students learning consistently, because learning time is the limiting factor that links behaviour, attendance, and results.

Enrichment is organised with a clear, time-bounded structure. Sessions are described as running from 15:00 to 16:00 and open to all students, with daily registers and cancellation communications to families.

What matters most is specificity, and the school provides it. Examples across the week include Diversity and Culture Club, Dungeons and Dragons Club, Crochet Club, History Club, Chess Club, and Art Club. There are also production-linked activities such as Matilda rehearsal, alongside sport and fitness options including badminton, football, netball, and a gym club.

The facilities described in published school materials help explain how this offer is delivered. The prospectus references a Learning Resource Centre, a dance studio equipped with sprung floors and full length mirrors, dedicated music teaching and practice spaces, tennis courts, a fitness centre, and a 3G outdoor pitch.

The implication for families is that enrichment is not simply a list of clubs, it is a routine that can anchor school engagement for students who learn best when they have at least one activity that feels like “their” space.

The school day runs from 08:30 to 15:00, with breakfast club from 08:00.

Enrichment activities are described as taking place after lessons, typically finishing at 16:00.

Travel guidance places emphasis on walking and cycling where possible, and the school provides a travel-zone map with suggested walking and cycling areas, bus-stop markers, and a Park and Stride approach for families who need to drive part of the way.

Wraparound care beyond the breakfast club is not described as childcare in published materials, so families who need supervised provision after 16:00 should check directly what is currently available.

• Results are a genuine concern. Progress 8 is -1.04 and Attainment 8 is 33.7. Families should look closely at subject-level support and how learning time is protected for students who are at risk of falling behind.

• Behaviour systems are still bedding in. The most recent official evidence notes improved calm but also high suspensions and significant time spent out of lessons in pastoral bases. For some students this support is necessary, but it can also reduce progress if it becomes frequent.

• Post-16 planning needs active management. Without a sixth form, every student transitions elsewhere at 16. Careers guidance is present, but there is also a noted gap in Key Stage 3 encounters with technical and apprenticeship pathways, so early conversations can help.

The Telford Langley School is best understood as a community secondary with a strong pastoral identity and clear intent around reading, personal development, and belonging, set against a results profile that remains below where it needs to be. The July 2024 Ofsted inspection rated the school Requires Improvement overall, with Personal Development graded Good.

It suits families who prioritise relational support, structured routines, and an improvement trajectory, especially where a child needs adults to notice them quickly and help them re-engage. The key decision point is whether the current improvement work translates into sustained learning time and stronger progress for your child over the next two to three years.