City of Derby Academy

City of Derby Academy requires significant improvement following a full inspection in June 2026. The school, part of the Tapestry Learning Partnership, serves a disadvantaged community with well-above-average free school meals and has faced leadership turbulence, with a new headteacher appointed just weeks before the inspection. While recent trust support has stemmed decline and led to rapid improvements in attendance, punctuality and behaviour, safeguarding standards are not met and must be urgently addressed. Achievement remains a major weakness, with pupils making poor progress and many leaving without the qualifications needed for ambitious next steps.

Strengths

• Recent leadership actions have sharply reduced suspensions and improved attendance and punctuality.
• Pupils feel safe and are greeted warmly; behaviour has improved, creating a calmer school environment.
• Inclusion is at the heart of improvement work, with a genuine commitment to keeping vulnerable pupils in the school community.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well-sequenced and tailored to the school's context, including support for pupils with English as an additional language.
• Staff morale is improving, with many feeling more optimistic and valuing new professional development opportunities.
• Extra-curricular activities, such as the book-swap café and music sessions, raise pupils' aspirations.
• The new trust has acted swiftly to improve governance and provide rigorous support and challenge.

Areas for Improvement

• Safeguarding standards are not met; there is a lack of open culture and strategic oversight, leading to gaps in record-keeping and information sharing.
• Achievement requires urgent improvement; many pupils have significant knowledge gaps and make poor progress across the curriculum.
• Teaching quality is inconsistent, with uncorrected errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation, and missed opportunities to embed learning.
• Pupils' work is typically very poor, often incomplete and with uncorrected mistakes.
• Too few pupils achieve basic thresholds in English and mathematics, limiting access to ambitious post-16 pathways.
• Destinations after 16 are below national averages, with too many pupils not moving into sustained education, employment or training.
• The quality of support for pupils with SEND and other vulnerable pupils is inconsistent, hindering their progress.
• Personal development teaching is inconsistent, so some pupils lack knowledge to keep themselves safe.
• Some pupils remain passive and reluctant to take part in learning, and bullying can still occur with inconsistent resolution.
• Attendance remains above national averages for overall absence and persistent absence, despite recent improvements.
• Communication with some external agencies is not robust enough.
• Some parents share concerns about the school's provision.

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 City of Derby Academy attended 90.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 34.3% 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, 20.7% of pupils at City of Derby Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 City of Derby Academy had 15.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.8% 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, 14.2% of pupils at City of Derby Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 City of Derby Academy received £9,576 and spent £9,395 for each of its 914 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £642,000 (£703 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of Tapestry Learning Partnership, income was £8,269 and spending £8,367 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 · Derby local authority: places and applications

City of Derby Academy is part of Tapestry Learning Partnership, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• Chellaston Academy Derby
• Springfield Junior School Swadlincote
• Kensington Junior Academy Ilkeston
• Laceyfields Academy Heanor
• Langley Mill Academy Nottingham
• Djanogly Strelley Academy Nottingham
• Hilltop Primary Academy Ashbourne
• Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Ashbourne
• Djanogly Northgate Academy Nottingham
• Djanogly City Academy Nottingham

What is City of Derby Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for City of Derby Academy is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was City of Derby Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

City of Derby Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does City of Derby Academy have?

City of Derby Academy has 925 pupils on roll.

What age range does City of Derby Academy cover?

City of Derby Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are City of Derby Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 31.8, and 16% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is City of Derby Academy?

City of Derby Academy is at Farmhouse Road, Sinfin, Derby, Derbyshire, DE24 3AR.