Castle Donington College

Castle Donington College has shown steady performance, maintaining its status as a good school since its last inspection in January 2019. The school is characterized by a positive community atmosphere where pupils feel safe and supported. The curriculum is ambitious, promoting a strong academic foundation and good personal development through various extracurricular activities, ensuring that pupils are well-prepared for their future education and careers. The principal and the trust have worked diligently to maintain educational standards amidst a period of leadership changes, which has helped the school improve rapidly.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate polite and friendly behavior.
• The school has high expectations for pupil achievement and behavior.
• Strong community sense that helps pupils feel safe.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum that develops understanding over time.
• Dedicated programme to support pupils struggling with reading.
• Effective personal development opportunities including work experience.

Areas for Improvement

• Lower than expected proportion of pupils taking the English Baccalaureate qualifications.
• Inconsistent application of the assessment approach across the school.
• Lack of consistency in the implementation of the new behaviour policy.

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 Castle Donington College attended 91.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.4% 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, 4.5% of pupils at Castle Donington College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Castle Donington College had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2023–24, 11.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 16.7%).

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, 13.0% of pupils at Castle Donington College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.1% 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 Castle Donington College received £7,218 and spent £6,996 for each of its 685 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £163,000 (£238 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of East Midlands Education Trust, income was £7,496 and spending £7,400 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Derby · Leicestershire local authority: places and applications

Castle Donington College is part of East Midlands Education Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Chellaston Infant School Derby
• Chellaston Junior School Derby
• Oak Grange Primary School Derby
• Homefields Primary School Derby
• Limehurst Academy Loughborough
• The West Bridgford School Nottingham
• Awsworth Primary and Nursery School Nottingham
• The South Wolds Academy & Sixth Form Nottingham
• Kimberley Primary School Nottingham
• Mornington Primary School Nottingham

What is Castle Donington College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castle Donington College is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Castle Donington College last inspected by Ofsted?

Castle Donington College was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Castle Donington College have?

Castle Donington College has 684 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castle Donington College cover?

Castle Donington College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Castle Donington College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.7, and 52% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Castle Donington College?

Castle Donington College is at Mount Pleasant, Castle Donington, Derby, Derbyshire, DE74 2LN.