John Port Spencer Academy

John Port Spencer Academy is performing well overall, with a good quality of education, strong leadership, and positive behavior among students. The school has built strong relationships between staff and pupils, ensuring that most students feel safe and respected. However, the personal development curriculum requires improvement as many pupils express concerns about the quality and sufficiency of what they are being taught in this area. The school, part of the Spencer Academies Trust, has not been previously inspected under section 5 and this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Strengths

• Strong relationships between pupils and staff.
• Broad curriculum with a wide range of subjects available.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs.
• Good quality careers information and guidance.
• High-quality extracurricular activities available.
• Strong subject knowledge among teachers.

Areas for Improvement

• Personal development curriculum lacks ambition and quality.
• Assessment practices are not consistently effective across all subjects.

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 John Port Spencer Academy attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.1% 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, 4.7% of pupils at John Port Spencer Academy 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 John Port Spencer Academy had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.8% 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, 16.7% of pupils at John Port Spencer 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 John Port Spencer Academy received £6,832 and spent £7,213 for each of its 2,024 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £567,000 (£280 per pupil).

Across all 27 schools of The Spencer Academies Trust, income was £7,619 and spending £7,638 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 · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

John Port Spencer Academy is part of The Spencer Academies Trust, which runs 27 schools. The nearest others:

• Hilton Spencer Academy Derby
• The Mease Spencer Academy Hilton
• Highfields Spencer Academy Derby
• Derby Moor Spencer Academy Derby
• Brackensdale Spencer Academy Derby
• Ashwood Spencer Academy Derby
• Castleward Spencer Academy Derby
• St Giles' Spencer Academy Derby
• Wyndham Spencer Academy Derby
• Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy Chellaston

What is John Port Spencer Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for John Port Spencer Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2022.

When was John Port Spencer Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

John Port Spencer Academy was last inspected in July 2022.

How many pupils does John Port Spencer Academy have?

John Port Spencer Academy has 2,034 pupils on roll.

What age range does John Port Spencer Academy cover?

John Port Spencer Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are John Port Spencer Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 53.5, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is John Port Spencer Academy?

John Port Spencer Academy is at Main Street, Etwall, Derby, Derbyshire, DE65 6LU.