The school is situated in a former
coal mining area, and was first known as Hatfield High School. In 1997 arson destroyed the science block and former year 7 and 8 classrooms of the annexed Ash Hill Middle School. Another fire in November 2001 caused £750,000 of damage to the front building, destroying the main hall and eighteen classrooms, including computer equipment the school had recently obtained in the Foundation IT building. Seven fire engines attended. Ash Hill became an Arts College in 2003 and was renamed Hatfield Visual Arts College. A new Arts and Maths building, the Da Vinci Learning Centre, was opened on 26 January 2007 by
Alan Johnson. The school converted to academy status in September 2011 and was renamed Ash Hill Academy. It has a history of performing arts, which includes a wind band and choirs. A school pantomime and other performances take place throughout the year. On 16 December 2009 the school ended mixed-year form classes, the forms now separated into year groups. The school's last
Ofsted inspection in June 2011 reported the school as having made good progress, whereby it was taken out of the special measures imposed 18 months previously. The school's former high level of
truancy has been curbed by keeping pupils in at lunchtime, more police patrols, and electronic registration at the beginning of lessons. A
fingerprint system is used for taking books from the library. ==Academic performance==