The Dorcan Academy

The Dorcan Academy is a secondary academy in a single academy trust, with 881 pupils and a new headteacher who took up post in September 2026. The inspection found the school performing at the expected standard in most areas, with safeguarding met. Leaders and trustees are relatively new and have a clear, united focus on improvement; staff value recent changes to behaviour systems and professional learning, and pupils generally feel safe and part of a calm, orderly community. Strengths include a broad, ambitious curriculum, effective support for pupils who need to catch up in reading and writing, and strong pastoral and personal development provision. Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips, careers guidance and leadership roles, and disadvantaged pupils now achieve broadly in line with their peers nationally, with the gap closing. Achievement is improving, although pupils do not achieve equally well in all subjects. The main concerns are attendance and inclusion. Too many pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are persistently absent, and overall attendance has been declining. Behaviour is generally calm and bullying is rare, but a significant proportion of pupils receive repeated sanctions and, historically, did not get the support they needed to improve their engagement. Leaders have acted recently to identify barriers and improve support, but this work is too recent to show full impact; teachers do not always have the information or consistently use the most appropriate strategies to support and challenge all pupils. Trustees have strong oversight of safeguarding and academic achievement but have been less diligent in overseeing other areas such as attendance.

Strengths

• Broad and ambitious curriculum sequenced to build on prior learning
• Pupils learn subject-specific vocabulary that prepares them for qualifications
• Quick, highly effective support helps pupils catch up in reading and writing
• The Dorcan teaching approach typically supports pupils with SEND to learn alongside peers
• Strong pastoral support helps pupils feel safe
• Well-planned personal development covers finance, politics, religions, safety and healthy relationships
• Wide range of clubs, trips and leadership roles enrich pupils' experience
• Extensive careers information and guidance, including Able to Thrive days
• Calm and orderly school where bullying is rare and pupils typically learn without disruption
• Leaders have an accurate view of strengths and are acting quickly on improvement priorities
• Comprehensive professional learning and attention to staff workload and wellbeing
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve broadly in line with peers nationally and the gap is closing
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Too many pupils do not attend school regularly
• Overall attendance has declined, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
• A significant proportion of pupils are persistently absent
• A significant proportion of pupils receive repeated behaviour sanctions
• Historical behaviour support did not accurately identify what pupils needed to improve engagement
• Historic weaknesses in identifying individual pupils' needs meant some did not receive required support
• Teachers do not consistently have all information about individual pupils' barriers
• Teaching strategies are not consistently selected to support and challenge pupils
• Pupils do not achieve equally well across all subject areas
• Some pupils with barriers to learning and/or wellbeing are not consistently well supported
• Trustees have been less diligent in overseeing areas such as attendance
• Recent attendance and inclusion actions are too new to show impact

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at The Dorcan Academy attended 90.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 17.1% of pupils at The Dorcan Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 The Dorcan Academy had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 28.9% of pupils at The Dorcan Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Dorcan Academy received £7,611 and spent £7,298 for each of its 889 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £37,000 (£42 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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• Secondary Schools

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What is The Dorcan Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Dorcan Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was The Dorcan Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The Dorcan Academy was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does The Dorcan Academy have?

The Dorcan Academy has 881 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Dorcan Academy cover?

The Dorcan Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are The Dorcan Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.2, and 39% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Dorcan Academy?

The Dorcan Academy is at St Paul's Drive, Covingham, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 5DA.