Haberdashers’ Adams is a selective state grammar school for day pupils and boarders, located in the rural market town of Newport in Shropshire. Newport is approximately 20 minutes from Telford, an hour away from Birmingham and one and a half hours from London by train. We welcome boys and girls aged 11-18 as day pupils and offer boarding for boys.
About Us
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Our School
Over 1,000 pupils attend the school, including 360 in our thriving Sixth Form. Around 100 of our pupils are boarders; we are extremely proud of our boarding facilities and boarding is an integral part of school life and contributes much to the ethos of our school. There is no charge for education and boarders pay only for the provision associated with boarding.
Our School
Around 100 of our pupils are boarders; we are extremely proud of our boarding facilities and boarding is an integral part of school life and contributes much to the ethos of our school.
Our Core Purpose
Inspiring academic excellence, nurturing personal growth and developing kind, principled individuals equipped to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century through a first-class, holistic education.
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“Inspiring academic excellence, nurturing personal growth and developing kind, principled individuals equipped to embrace the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century through a first-class, holistic education.”
Our core purpose is the guiding principle that aligns our vision, values and ethos, and captures exactly why it is that we do what we do.
This purpose encapsulates exactly what I believe this school is all about; we are here first and foremost as a beacon of academic excellence and aspiration where there is a real focus on the quality of work inside the classroom, and a clear pathway for any interest for our students beyond compulsory education. However, Haberdashers’ Adams is not solely an exam factory; we exist also to develop the whole person through a thriving extra-curricular programme, our wonderful and inspiring house system, our student leadership programmes and through the way in which we expect our students to treat one another.
The way that they treat one another is defined by our core values, a set of virtues that an Adams’ pupil epitomises at every opportunity, be it in the classroom, on the playground, outside of school, on the sports field, in the music room and in all of their interactions. Our core values that define an Adams’ student are:
Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Service and Resilience.
Becoming Fully Co-Ed
Adams went co-ed in the Sixth Form over 30 years ago, in September 1993, and the natural progression was to go fully co-ed. In September 2024 we were very excited to welcome our first cohort of Year 7 girls.
Boys and girls will learn together, providing equal opportunities for all while recognising their different needs. Our teaching will continue to be outstanding and our students will gain not only the grades they need to move on from Adams successfully, but also the skills to be life-long learners who contribute positively to society and become leaders in driving change.
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Becoming Fully Co-Ed
The move towards full co-education has already begun:
- We have been engaged in all aspects of this change since 2022 and Charlotte Harman was appointed Deputy Head i/c Girls in April 2023.
- In September 2024, Year 7 became fully co-ed. It will take five years to complete the transition to become fully co-educational.
- The Court – an additional netball court, built to England Netball specifications, was completed in September 2024. It was officially opened on 18th October 2024 when we hosted our first Year 7 home netball fixture against Old Swinford Hospital.
- The school has signed up to the Girls On Board approach to managing female friendships.
- The school library has received a grant to purchase books enjoyed by younger female readers.
- Mentoring – The pioneering Year 7 intake were each assigned an Upper Sixth mentor and enjoyed meeting regularly to chat, play team building games and have fun. Such was the success that the girls, now in Year 8, were keen to remain involved in the programme, so the newest intake of Year 7 girls enjoys having a mentor from both Upper Sixth and Year 8.
These are exciting times, and we are determined to seize the opportunities presented by going fully co-educational. Details of the transition are still evolving, but please do get in touch if there is anything you would like to find out more.
Our History
Haberdashers’ Adams was founded in 1656 by William Adams, a merchant Haberdasher with family connections in the area. He established his school in Newport, Shropshire during the Interregnum, with permission from Oliver Cromwell, and appointed the Master and Wardens of the Haberdashers’ Company as Governors. He left money and estates to the Company to support the school. At the Restoration, an Act of Parliament confirmed the terms of the school’s foundation. To this day the school is known regionally and nationally for its high academic standards.
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Our History
During the 20th Century, the school saw a period of expansion with many additional teaching facilities added. These included a large teaching block, gymnasium, science laboratories, design technology centre, mathematics and information technology building and a modern languages centre. In 1993 girls were admitted to the Sixth Form as day pupils.
Expansion continued into the start of the 21st Century with the construction of a new sports hall, thanks to the generosity of many who donated to a major fundraising appeal. In 2007, a significant new science block was opened, housing eight laboratories and the Design & Technology department.
More recent developments include conversion of the former Performing Arts Centre into a state of the art Sixth Form Centre. The former Coach House has become the Music and Performing Arts Centre with Hamilton Hall, a dedicated performance space, at the heart of it. The Humanities building, incorporating six new teaching rooms, was also completed during this significant period of development. These projects were all officially opened by HRH Earl of Wessex in 2015. Paddock Hall, built in 2019 to house Maths and Art is the latest addition.
In September 2024, the school went fully co-ed with girls joining in Year 7.
The Worshipful Company Of Haberdashers
Members of the Company were originally Haberdashers by trade, selling ribbons, beads, purses, gloves, pins, caps and toys. Like other Companies, as the Haberdashers became more successful, they collected the status symbols appropriate to the times. The present Coat of Arms dates from 1503 and the current Charter by which the Company is governed today was granted by Elizabeth I in 1578.
By the middle of the 17th century however the emphasis changed when control of the trade was lost. The charitable funds, hitherto operated as a ‘safety net’ for members, multiplied and educational establishments became the Company’s main raison d’être. The original foundations and alms houses provided by a number of wealthy, but mostly childless, Haberdashers at that time, continue to the present day, together with numerous other charities of which the Company is Trustee.
There are fifteen schools, in four devolved groups – Haberdashers’ Academy Trust South, Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools and Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools and Haberdashers’ West Midlands Academy Trust.
Mr Adams’ Free Grammar School
In September 2002 an authoritative history of the school, “Mr Adams’ Free Grammar School”, was published. The authors, former Headmaster David Taylor, and his historian wife, Ruth, drew on their own experience as well as making extensive use of the Haberdashers’ Company archives and local records. The result was a fascinating account, not only of school life and the impact of the school on the life of Newport, but of the wider educational scene over the centuries. The narrative is enlivened by many reminiscences and anecdotes from former pupils and staff members. The hardback book can be purchased from the school.
Haberdashers' Advantage
Education sits at the heart of the Haberdashers’ Company’s work today. The Haberdashers’ family of fifteen schools collectively educates 12,000 students across the independent and maintained sectors. The added value of attending a Haberdasher school is manifest in the Haberdashers’ Advantage Programme.
The programme is based on the principles of community, mutual support and shared values, with the Company using its ability to create connections, harness expertise and open doors for the benefit of students and staff. There are three interlinked strands: the Working Together programme is about professional collaboration, the Character and Futures programmes are student-facing.
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Haberdashers' Adavantage
Character
A programme of initiatives designed to promote confidence, broaden horizons and develop the life-skills and attributes that a Haberdasher pupil should walk away with when they leave school. The activities of this programme are based on establishing a sense of community, providing cultural capital and character development opportunities.
Activities include a trip to Haberdashers’ Hall in Year 7 to learn about the history and shared heritage. Subsequent opportunities include events in music, sport, other co-curricular activities and student leadership development. This programme seeks to recognise pupil talent and help develop it further.
Futures
Members of the Haberdashers’ Company are drawn from a wide variety of professional backgrounds. Many are at the top of their fields with an extensive network of organisational and personal contacts. The Futures programme is intended to introduce our Sixth Formers to these professional worlds, increase awareness of different career paths, build confidence and networking skills and enable students and alumni to access the broader Haberdashers’ community as they move into the wider world.
Past events have covered Law & Justice Careers, Marketing & Creative Careers, Banking & Finance Careers and Medical Careers. Meanwhile, participation in the annual Livery Academy Awards helps to stimulate business and entrepreneurial skills. Set to launch next year, Habs Aspire is an innovative mentoring programme for pupils in Year 12. Once rolled out, the intention is to be able to offer every pupil in Lower Sixth four hours of one-to-one mentoring across the academic year.
Working Together
The Company brings together staff, school leaders and governors to connect with each other, and gain the benefits of a wider educational context than any individual school group can offer. School leaders and staff meet throughout the year to troubleshoot, share ideas and best practice, innovate and develop strategies to support individual school priorities.
Alumni, both pupils and staff, are strongly encouraged to stay connected, for their own benefit and the benefit of future generations.
Once a Haberdashers, always a Haberdasher.
Governance
Haberdashers’ Adams is part of the Haberdashers’ West Midlands Academies Trust (HWMAT).
HWMAT is sponsored by The Haberdashers’ Company, whose purpose is to “empower young people from every background to fulfil their potential through our schools and by supporting their communities”.
The Company takes great interest and pride in all the schools of which it is Trustee. Members of The Company volunteer as governors, using their business and professional expertise to provide strong governance and strategic leadership, ensuring that the endowment revenues are spent wisely and that building projects give good value for money.
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Governance
Most of the Governors and the Heads are appointed by the Company, but not members of staff. The Company does not interfere in the daily running of the schools which is the proper concern of the respective Head under the direction of the Board of Trustees and Local Governing Body. The schools are concerned in promoting a broad tolerance of different viewpoints and consideration for others, within the context of a Christian heritage. From their foundation by four childless, Puritan Haberdashers who sought to enlighten future generations, the schools have developed and today fifteen very different schools offer the best education available.
Haberdashers’ Adams Federation Trust (HAFT) came into being on 1st January 2012. The Trust is a Company Limited by Guarantee and an Exempt Charity. It has the responsibility for running both Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby, Haberdashers’ Adams and Haberdashers’ Castle House.
On the 22nd March 2022, the trust was retitled – Haberdashers’ West Midlands Academies Trust (HWMAT).
For further information about Haberdashers’ West Midlands Academies Trust (HWMAT), please email clerk@adamsgs.uk
Performance Data
Providing an outstanding learning experience is at the heart of everything we do and we are proud of the excellent results our pupils achieve. We believe the success of a school cannot be measured by results alone, however our recent results can be viewed below and the full range of our results can be viewed on the Government’s school performance website.
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Performance Data
Pupils at Haberdashers’ Adams achieved a great set of A-level and GCSE results in 2024.
A-Level Results
A total of 171 pupils completed their A-Level studies in 2024, all studying three or more A-Level subjects. Overall, the school achieved a 100% pass rate with 47% of A-levels graded A*/A and 75% A*- B grades. An impressive 12 pupils secured a straight set of A* grades in three or more subjects with a total of 51 pupils achieving all A*/A grades.
In addition to their A-levels, 134 of our A-level pupils also took the Extended Project Qualification with 42% achieving an A*- B grade.
Of our Oxbridge entrants, 7 secured their places at Oxford and Cambridge universities in 2024 and over 80% of pupils secured their first-choice university, including the 20 pupils who have chosen to study medicine, dentistry or veterinary science.
GCSE Results
A total of 142 pupils sat their GCSEs at Haberdashers’ Adams. They achieved an excellent set of results that were on a par with our 2019 results and in line with the expected national grade deflation in England to bring results back to pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, 39% of this year’s results were 8s and 9s (A*), 61% of exams were graded 7-9 (A -A*) and 81% were graded 9-6 (A*-B), taking the overall pass rate to 93%. The vast majority of pupils studied ten GCSEs with an impressive 15 pupils achieving grades 7 to 9 in all ten of their subjects and 7 pupils achieving a straight set of grade 9s in their ten subjects.
There were some particularly high results in the sciences and maths but also in the humanities subjects (geography, history and religious studies) and music. At Haberdashers’ Adams, we believe passionately in giving pupils every opportunity to grow into interesting, balanced, confident and articulate young people, encouraging them to engage in a wide range of extra-curricular activities alongside their studies. All pupils sit 10 GCSEs including three separate sciences, a language, a humanity, a performance subject (art, drama, music or PE) maths and English.
Inspection Reports
The school receives regular inspections from Ofsted. Our most recent Ofsted school inspection was in May 2022 when Ofsted reported Adams as ‘Good’ with a significant number of ‘Outstanding’ features. To view the report please visit the Ofsted website.
The school has also been inspected by the Good Schools Guide. This is an independent organisation which reviews both independent and state schools. To read the Good Schools Guide said click the link.
Boarding Life
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