High Tunstall College of Science

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 January 2025

High Tunstall College is a very inclusive school, where pupils are happy and safe. It is a diverse community, where pupils are known as individuals. Pastoral care is strong. The school often goes to great lengths to support pupils and their families. As a result of this care, relationships between pupils and staff are positive. The school has high expectations. However, there are inconsistencies in the quality of education that pupils receive. As a result, the depth of pupils' knowledge and what they can remember is varied. This is also reflected in published examination results that show pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged, do not achieve as well as they should. Lessons are focused, purposeful and typically free from distractions. Pupils are polite and conduct themselves maturely, including at social times. They make an active contribution to school life in the various leadership roles they are offered as part of the school's 'leadership academy'. Pupils who are in the 'make a difference' team help their peers when they need support. Those who are the school's 'pupil poet laureates' write poetry for significant school occasions. The school's programme to support pupils' personal development is very effective. Pupils are offered an extensive range of opportunities to develop their interests and talents. Pupils appreciate this offer and often take the lead in running extra-curricular clubs.

What the school should improve

• The implementation of the curriculum does not consistently enable pupils to learn, remember and apply key concepts in sufficient depth. Many pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are not achieving as well as they could. The school must improve the implementation of the curriculum, so that pupils secure their understanding of important knowledge and achieve more across the subjects that they study.
• The school's programme to support pupils with their reading is in its infancy. In some cases, the pupils who could benefit from have not been identified and support programmes have not been fully rolled out. This means that some pupils are not given the support they need to overcome barriers to reading and the wider learning this underpins. The school needs to intensify its actions to identify swiftly those pupils who need extra help with their reading and implement the support that they need rapidly.
• There is some variation in how well the school's policies for teaching the curriculum and checking pupils' subject-specific learning are implemented across subjects. In some cases, variations in the depth of pupils' understanding in subjects are not sufficiently identified or acted upon. The school should work with staff to further apply the school's policies for the teaching and assessment of important concepts in the subjects that they study, so that pupils' learning can be deepened.

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