Duke's Aldridge

Duke’s Aldridge is a secondary academy in the Aldridge Education Trust that has recently undergone significant change, including a new executive principal in January 2025. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspectors found a clear strategic vision and raised expectations, with an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum. Pupils generally behave well and enjoy learning in a calmer, more orderly environment, and achievement is improving, although published outcomes in 2024 did not fully reflect this. Notable strengths include high-quality staff training, effective reading support, tenacious attendance work, comprehensive personal development and enrichment, a strong careers programme, and effective safeguarding. The main concern is support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Recent refinements aim to identify SEND accurately, but information passed to staff is sometimes not precise enough, and learning is not consistently adapted, so some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should. Behaviour is generally positive, but a minority of pupils still miss learning too frequently because of their conduct, and the school needs stronger early intervention and support for pupils with additional behavioural needs. Overall, the school is performing well with a secure foundation for further improvement, but it must sharpen SEND provision and behaviour support so all pupils can access and benefit from the curriculum consistently.

Strengths

• Clear strategic vision shared by leaders, governors and the trust
• Ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• Achievement is improving across the school
• High-quality training and development for staff
• Strong mentoring support for early-career teachers
• Knowledgeable teachers explain new topics clearly
• Teachers regularly revisit important content and check pupils’ knowledge
• Effective support helps early readers improve fluency
• Tenacious and effective work to improve attendance
• Pupils generally have positive attitudes and work well together
• Improved breaktime and lunchtime management
• Comprehensive personal development and enrichment provision
• Strong careers programme with meaningful work experience
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Support for pupils with SEND is not sufficiently robust
• Information given to staff about SEND needs is sometimes not precise enough
• Learning is not consistently adapted for pupils with SEND
• Some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should
• Some pupils miss learning too frequently because of their conduct
• Early intervention and support for pupils with additional behavioural needs need improvement
• Published outcomes in 2024 did not fully reflect improving achievement

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 Duke's Aldridge attended 89.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.4% 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, 19.1% of pupils at Duke's Aldridge were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Duke's Aldridge had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 36.3% 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, 10.3% of pupils at Duke's Aldridge were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% 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 Duke's Aldridge received £12,489 and spent £11,266 for each of its 965 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,719,000 (£1,781 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Aldridge Education, income was £9,171 and spending £8,780 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 Haringey · Haringey local authority: places and applications

Duke's Aldridge is part of Aldridge Education, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Brighton
• Portslade Aldridge Community Academy Brighton
• AldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK Salford
• Aldridge UTC Warrington Warrington
• Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary Darwen
• Darwen Aldridge Community Academy Darwen
• Aldridge UTC Darwen Darwen
• Darwen Vale High School Darwen

What is Duke's Aldridge's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Duke's Aldridge is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Duke's Aldridge last inspected by Ofsted?

Duke's Aldridge was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Duke's Aldridge have?

Duke's Aldridge has 873 pupils on roll.

What age range does Duke's Aldridge cover?

Duke's Aldridge for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Duke's Aldridge's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.3, and 30% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Duke's Aldridge?

Duke's Aldridge is at Trulock Road, Tottenham, London, N17 0PG.