tutorperch
First Tutors closed Read guide

State secondary schools in Derbyshire

45 schools · East Midlands · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Derbyshire has 45 state secondaries, 27 of them with sixth forms. 94.5% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 22.2% to 73.3% passing English and maths, a spread of 51 points, with a middle school at 41.3%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 2 rated Outstanding, 26 Good, 1 Requires improvement, 1 Inadequate. 15 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

Derby
45 schools in Derbyshire. Tap one, or see the full list. Derby is a separate council, marked on the map.
22% 73% passed English & maths

Derbyshire against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

43%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

2.5% below England

England 45%

45

Attainment 8 average score

1.1 below England

England 46.1

22%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

in line with England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Derbyshire

94.5%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

98.5%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0.1%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

37%

Appeals upheld56 of 152 heard

These are figures for Derbyshire as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Derbyshire's 45 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 22% to 73%. That is a spread of 51 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Derbyshire schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathshistoryenglish literatureenglish languagecombined sciencegeographyartphysicschemistrybiologyspanishdesign technologycomputer sciencebusiness studiesphysical educationfrenchfood technologygerman
  1. 1 St Mary's Catholic High School, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Chesterfield · 72 entries 92%
  2. 2 The Ecclesbourne School Belper · 103 entries 83%
  3. 3 John Flamsteed Community School Ripley · 70 entries 81%
  4. 4 Wilsthorpe School Nottingham · 115 entries 77%
  5. 5 Heanor Gate Spencer Academy Heanor · 86 entries 77%
  6. 6 Anthony Gell School Matlock · 45 entries 73%
  7. 7 Brookfield Community School Chesterfield · 112 entries 73%
  8. 8 John Port Spencer Academy Derby · 193 entries 70%
  9. 9 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Ashbourne · 64 entries 70%
  10. 10 Outwood Academy Hasland Hall Chesterfield · 83 entries 70%
  11. 11 David Nieper Academy Alfreton · 49 entries 69%
  12. 12 Lady Manners School Bakewell · 97 entries 68%
  13. 13 The Ripley Academy Ripley · 38 entries 66%
  14. 14 Netherthorpe School Chesterfield · 70 entries 66%
  15. 15 Whittington Green School Chesterfield · 57 entries 65%
  16. 16 Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School Dronfield · 159 entries 65%
  17. 17 Outwood Academy Newbold Chesterfield · 73 entries 64%
  18. 18 Springwell Community College Chesterfield · 72 entries 64%
  19. 19 St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop · 38 entries 63%
  20. 20 St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy Buxton · 51 entries 61%
  21. 21 Belper School and Sixth Form Centre Belper · 121 entries 59%
  22. 22 Highfields School Matlock · 83 entries 58%
  23. 23 Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy Ilkeston · 94 entries 57%
  24. 24 Hope Valley College Hope Valley · 30 entries 57%
  25. 25 Chapel-en-le-Frith High School High Peak · 85 entries 56%
  26. 26 Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy Ilkeston · 80 entries 56%
  27. 27 The Long Eaton School Nottingham · 83 entries 55%
  28. 28 Heritage High School Chesterfield · 74 entries 55%
  29. 29 New Mills School High Peak · 71 entries 55%
  30. 30 Swanwick Hall School Alfreton · 92 entries 54%
  31. 31 The Pingle Academy Swadlincote · 96 entries 54%
  32. 32 Frederick Gent School Alfreton · 41 entries 54%
  33. 33 Friesland School Sandiacre · 114 entries 54%
  34. 34 Kirk Hallam Community Academy Ilkeston · 47 entries 53%
  35. 35 Aldercar High School Nottingham · 30 entries 50%
  36. 36 Glossopdale School and Sixth Form Glossop · 111 entries 50%
  37. 37 Tibshelf Community School Alfreton · 100 entries 49%
  38. 38 Granville Academy Swadlincote · 88 entries 49%
  39. 39 The Bolsover School Chesterfield · 77 entries 48%
  40. 40 Tupton Hall School Chesterfield · 109 entries 48%
  41. 41 Buxton Community School Buxton · 57 entries 47%
  42. 42 Parkside Community School Chesterfield · 65 entries 43%
  43. 43 Eckington School Sheffield · 57 entries 40%
  44. 44 Shirebrook Academy Mansfield · 105 entries 31%
  45. 45 Mercia Academy Swadlincote · 45 entries 29%
history tutors

Parent guides

Thinking about a tutor?

Every school in Derbyshire

Derby sits inside Derbyshire but runs its own admissions as a separate local authority, so its schools are not in this list.

8 of 45 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Derbyshire

26 of Derbyshire's 27 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Derbyshire

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Barnsley 11 schools · 45% passed English & mathsCheshire East 23 schools · 45% passed English & mathsDerby 16 schools · 39% passed English & mathsKirklees 25 schools · 47% passed English & mathsLeicestershire 44 schools · 47% passed English & mathsNottinghamshire 44 schools · 47% passed English & mathsOldham 14 schools · 37% passed English & mathsRotherham 16 schools · 39% passed English & mathsSheffield 29 schools · 42% passed English & mathsStaffordshire 56 schools · 40% passed English & mathsStockport 14 schools · 49% passed English & mathsTameside 16 schools · 41% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.