Haberdashers' Abraham Darby

About Haberdashers' Abraham Darby

Haberdashers' Abraham Darby is a mixed state secondary in Telford and Wrekin that currently holds an Ofsted rating of Requires Improvement, following its most recent graded inspection in 2023. The picture is more nuanced than that single label suggests, however. While overall effectiveness and behaviour and attitudes were both judged to require improvement, the inspection team rated quality of education, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision all as Good. The most telling academic metric is the school's Progress 8 score of -0.74, which is well below the national average and places it in the bottom 50 of schools nationally. This means that, on average, pupils achieved nearly three-quarters of a grade less per subject across eight GCSEs than students with similar starting points elsewhere. In the local authority, the school ranks 8th out of 10 similar schools, and its Progress 8 score is significantly lower than the Telford and Wrekin average of -0.26.

At GCSE, the school's Attainment 8 score stands at 39.7, and just over half of pupils (50.6%) achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, though that figure drops to 34.7% when looking at grade 5 or above. Only 8% of pupils entered the English Baccalaureate, and just 2.3% achieved it at grade 5 or above. The school's EBacc average points score is 3.29. In the sixth form, 68 students took A-levels in the 2023/24 academic year, achieving an average points per entry of 27.59, equivalent to a grade C-. The value-added score for the sixth form is -0.43, which is classed as below average, and no students achieved AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects. Compared with its previous inspection in 2019, when the school was also rated Requires Improvement overall, the latest report shows improvements in quality of education, personal development, and leadership and management, all of which have moved up from Requires Improvement to Good.

The school is oversubscribed for Year 7 entry in 2025/26, with 400 applications for 175 places and 129 first-preference applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.29. Facilities include a sports hall, swimming pool, astro turf, gymnasium, playing fields, science labs, music rooms, art studios, a sixth-form centre, and a chapel. The school offers a wide range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Sports on offer include netball, football, cross country, gymnastics, rugby, and athletics, while clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, science club, coding, Young Enterprise, newspaper, and book club. This school may suit families who value the recent improvements noted by Ofsted and the breadth of SEND support, but who are realistic about the current academic outcomes and the gap to local authority averages.

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