The Duchess's Community High School
Taylor Drive, Alnwick, NE66 2DH
This school is closed (it closed in November 2023).
It was replaced by The Duchess's Community High School. That page has the school's current information.
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Co Headteacher Alan Rogers & James Wilson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Setting
- (England/Wales) Rural hamlet and isolated dwellings in a sparse setting
- Capacity
- 1,651
- Pupils on roll
- 1,443
- URN
- 122362
- Local authority
- Northumberland
About this school
The Duchess's Community High School was a community secondary school in Alnwick. It taught children aged 11 to 18 and had 1,443 pupils on roll.
Ofsted did not inspect it under the current framework.
Ofsted judgement
The Duchess's Community High School has not been inspected by Ofsted yet.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 234 | 259 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.2 | 42.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.26 -0.44 to -0.07 | -0.26 -0.44 to -0.09 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 34% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 59.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 9.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.5 |
Trends over time
How The Duchess's Community High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Northumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.2 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.7 | 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | — | 35.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
How The Duchess's Community High School compares
Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2022/23.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | — | 9% | 17.5% | 1,443 | — |
| The Duchess's Community High School | 43.2 | 9.9% | 18.4% | 1,276 | 0.0 miles |
| James Calvert Spence College | 34.9 | 10.6% | 34.7% | 567 | 6.4 miles |
| St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Alnwick | — | 5.3% | 25.6% | 197 | 0.8 miles |
| Swansfield Park Primary School | — | — | — | 383 | 0.8 miles |
| Ncea Harry Hotspur Church of England Primary School | — | 7.4% | 36.7% | 104 | 1.2 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2022/23 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 17.5%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 9%
- Persistent absence
- 28.3%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Duchess's Community High School0.0 miles
Secondary · Alnwick
-
James Calvert Spence College6.4 miles
Secondary · Morpeth
-
St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Alnwick0.8 miles
Primary · Alnwick
-
Swansfield Park Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Alnwick
-
Ncea Harry Hotspur Church of England Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Alnwick
Other schools in Alnwick
- The Duchess's Community High School Secondary
- Branton Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Embleton Vincent Edwards Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hipsburn Primary School Primary
- Longhoughton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ncea Harry Hotspur Church of England Primary School Primary
- Shilbottle Primary School Primary
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School, Alnwick Primary
- Swansfield Park Primary School Primary
- Whittingham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Barndale School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does The Duchess's Community High School teach?
- The Duchess's Community High School taught children aged 11 to 18. It was a secondary school in Alnwick.
- Has The Duchess's Community High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected The Duchess's Community High School under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How big is The Duchess's Community High School?
- The Duchess's Community High School had 1,443 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- How have The Duchess's Community High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.2 in 2022/23 and 42.7 in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are The Duchess's Community High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Duchess's Community High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 28 October 2024.