Hartsdown Academy, Margate

Ofsted's report card from its 24 February 2026 inspection grades Hartsdown Academy on 7 areas: 1 strong standard, 4 expected standard and 2 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders identify pupils' needs swiftly and precisely."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have clear and accurate oversight of the curriculum and teaching."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear vision for the school."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "The school ensures that pupils' experiences extend far beyond the classroom."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Post-16 provision has been through some significant changes."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Too many pupils do not yet achieve well enough in national tests."

Attendance and behaviour - Needs attention. "Pupils' attendance remains consistently below national averages."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that they maintain high levels of support for pupils who do not attend as well as they should. Leaders should continue, and further strengthen, the work they have begun to improve attendance for all pupils and to reduce the number of pupils who miss too much of their crucial education through persistent absence"; "Leaders should ensure that they continue to establish a well-designed curriculum to help pupils achieve well in the wide range of qualifications they undertake. This should include an increased number of pupils reaching expected standards in English and mathematics"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils have increased opportunities to develop increasingly detailed knowledge and understanding of key British values, such as democracy, to even better prepare them for life outside of school".

In 2026, pupils at Hartsdown Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 35.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 48.1 in Kent and 47 across England.

27% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 49% in Kent and 47% in England.

That is up from 32.1 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.39: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 31.8, against 42.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 10.3 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 103 families put Hartsdown Academy as their first choice and 345 named it as one of their preferences, for 144 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 2 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Hartsdown Academy are Ursuline College (1.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40); King Ethelbert School (2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 38.7); St George's Church of England Foundation School (2.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 37.4); and The Royal Harbour Academy (2.3 miles, Attainment 8 31.1).

Hartsdown Academy's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

Hartsdown Academy is one of 6 schools run by Coastal Academies Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47.2 in 2024/25.

43 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Hartsdown Academy (as of April 2026): 67% would recommend the school, 63% say their child is happy there and 41% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (67%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (41%).

Of the 123 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 90% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 63% to a further education college and 2% into work.

Of the 19 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 47% went on to university or other higher education and 26% into work.

61.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 317 pupils (36.5%) received SEN support and 40 (4.6%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

Hartsdown Academy had 66 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Margate Rail Station, about 650 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hartsdown Academy (adjacent), 100 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Hartsdown Academy stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 382 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kent (101), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Hartsdown Academy issued 90 suspensions, 10.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Hartsdown Academy are Garlinge Primary School and Nursery (0.4 miles); St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Margate (0.5 miles); Salmestone Primary School (0.5 miles); and Margate, Holy Trinity and St John's Church of England Primary School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.