Huntcliff School

About Huntcliff School

Huntcliff School, a mixed secondary in Redcar and Cleveland, holds a Good rating from Ofsted, but its most recent exam data tells a more complicated story. The school’s Progress 8 score, which measures how much pupils improve between the end of primary school and their GCSEs, stands at -0.64. This means that, on average, students achieved nearly two-thirds of a grade less per subject than their peers nationally with similar starting points. The Department for Education categorises this as “well below average,” and it places Huntcliff 7th out of 9 secondary schools in the local authority. For context, the average Progress 8 score across Redcar and Cleveland is -0.23, so Huntcliff’s result sits significantly below the local norm. The school’s Attainment 8 score, which reflects overall GCSE performance, is 34.1 out of a possible 90, and only 38% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths.

Digging deeper into the breakdown, the school’s weakest subject area is maths, with a Progress 8 score of -0.76, followed by English at -0.60 and the EBacc subjects at -0.67. Just 4.6% of pupils entered the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects, and only 2.8% achieved it at a grade 5 or above. Nationally, Huntcliff ranks 2,788th out of 3,141 schools on Progress 8, placing it in the bottom half of all state secondaries. In the North East region, it sits 116th out of 142 schools. The school’s best-performing metric is its “open” element (Progress 8 Open at -0.53), which covers other GCSE subjects not in the core EBacc group, suggesting that pupils may perform relatively better in vocational or creative options. Compared with the top-performing local schools, such as St Peter’s Catholic College (Progress 8 of +1.13) or Freebrough Academy (+0.28), Huntcliff faces a clear challenge in raising academic outcomes.

On the practical side, Huntcliff offers a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, science labs, and music rooms, plus a sixth form centre, though the school only serves pupils up to age 16. Clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Young Enterprise, coding, and a newspaper club, alongside sports like athletics, gymnastics, and tennis. The school has 535 pupils on roll. For families considering Huntcliff, the key question is whether the school’s Good Ofsted rating and varied extracurricular provision outweigh the below-average academic results. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Freebrough Academy, 2.5 km away, which may be a viable alternative for some. Huntcliff is likely to suit families who prioritise a broad range of activities and facilities over top-tier exam performance, particularly for children who might thrive in non-academic subjects or who need a smaller, community-focused setting.

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