St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy is a secondary school that has made significant improvements since its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement. Inspectors found a caring, calm and positive school where staff know pupils well, behaviour is strong, and pupils feel safe and ready to learn. The curriculum is well structured, literacy is a clear priority, and provision for pupils with SEND has improved considerably. Attendance is good, personal development is thoughtfully planned, and governance and trust support are effective. The school’s main development areas relate to consistency. Some subject leaders are new or have not yet had the training and support they need, so curriculum quality is not yet equally strong across all subjects. There are also inconsistencies in how the school’s teaching and learning strategy is implemented, including insufficient checking of whether pupils have securely learned what has been taught, which can leave gaps unaddressed. Overall, this is a school with a positive climate, effective safeguarding and considerable momentum. Leaders have addressed earlier staffing issues and improved pupils’ progress, but they now need to ensure that subject leadership and curriculum implementation are consistently strong so that all pupils achieve as well as they should.

Strengths

• Staff know pupils exceptionally well and create a calm, caring and positive environment.
• Pupils behave well, disruptions are rare, and routines are consistently followed.
• The curriculum is well structured and reflects the demands of the national curriculum.
• Literacy is a key priority, with expert reading support and a strong library.
• Subject leadership is a developing strength, with skilled and knowledgeable staff joining the school.
• Provision for pupils with SEND has improved significantly and is effective.
• Pupils attend regularly and are rarely late.
• Personal, social and health education is thoughtfully planned and consistently delivered.
• Careers advice and guidance help pupils make well-informed choices.
• Governance is knowledgeable, statutory obligations are met, and trust support has been effective.
• Staff are highly committed, well led and proud of the school’s improvements.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subject leaders are new and have not received the training and development needed to become highly effective.
• Aspects of the curriculum are not as meticulously designed or well established as they should be in some subjects.
• Implementation of the ‘teaching and learning seven’ strategy is inconsistent across lessons.
• Insufficient checks are sometimes made to ensure pupils have thoroughly learned what has been taught, leaving knowledge gaps unaddressed.
• The quality of curriculum implementation is not yet consistently strong 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 St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.2% 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 St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy 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 St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy had 20.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.9% 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, 20.9% of pupils at St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.7% 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 St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy received £8,421 and spent £8,517 for each of its 419 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £485,000 (-£1,156 per pupil).

Across all 25 schools of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,472 and spending £7,889 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 Buxton · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 25 schools. The nearest others:

• St Anne's Catholic Voluntary Academy Buxton
• St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy High Peak
• St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy Stockport
• St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop
• St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop
• St Margaret's Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop
• All Saints' Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop
• St Charles' Catholic Voluntary Academy Glossop
• St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy Matlock
• St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy Belper

What is St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy has 407 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.1, and 39% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy?

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Palace Fields, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AF.