Discovery Academy
Discovery Drive, Bentilee, Stoke-on-Trent, ST2 0GA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ALPHA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Ms Jayne Schofield
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- ALPHA Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Stoke-on-Trent Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,435
- URN
- 136681
- Local authority
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01782882100
About this school
Discovery Academy is a secondary academy in Stoke-on-Trent. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,435 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 233 | 262 | 289 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.5 | 36.3 | 37.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.37 -0.55 to -0.19 | -0.65 -0.83 to -0.48 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 28.2% | 28% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 44.7% | 52.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30% | 26.7% | 23.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Discovery Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Stoke-on-Trent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.5 | 31.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.3 | 29.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.4 | 30.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,387 |
| 2023/24 | 1,446 |
| 2024/25 | 1,437 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Discovery Academy compares
Discovery Academy ranked 10th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.4 | 9.3% | 50.7% | 1,435 | — |
| Co-op Academy Florence MacWilliams | — | 4.5% | 42.5% | 295 | 1.7 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic Academy | 43.4 | 8.7% | 38.4% | 1,085 | 1.8 miles |
| St Peter's CofE Academy | 34.4 | 8.5% | 48.7% | 1,052 | 2.2 miles |
| Moorside High School | 45.4 | 6.3% | 21.4% | 766 | 2.4 miles |
| Ormiston Meridian Academy | 40.2 | 8.8% | 47.6% | 1,015 | 2.4 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 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 50.73%
- English as an additional language
- 9.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.28%
- Persistent absence
- 29.67%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Co-op Academy Florence MacWilliams1.7 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
St Thomas More Catholic Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
St Peter's CofE Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Moorside High School2.4 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Ormiston Meridian Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
Other schools in Stoke-on-Trent
Discovery Academy ranks 18th of the 23 ranked secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Alsager School Secondary
- Biddulph High School Secondary
- Birches Head Academy Secondary
- Blythe Bridge High School Secondary
- Co-op Academy Florence MacWilliams Secondary
- Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent Secondary
- Endon High School Secondary
- Haywood Academy Secondary
- Kidsgrove Secondary School Secondary
- Moorside High School Secondary
- Ormiston Meridian Academy Secondary
- Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Discovery Academy teach?
- Discovery Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Who is the principal of Discovery Academy?
- The principal of Discovery Academy is Ms Jayne Schofield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Discovery Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Discovery Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Discovery Academy?
- Discovery Academy has 1,435 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Discovery Academy full?
- Discovery Academy has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,435 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Discovery Academy a faith school?
- No. Discovery Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Discovery Academy a selective school?
- No. Discovery Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Discovery Academy?
- Discovery Academy is part of ALPHA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Discovery Academy have?
- The schools register lists Discovery Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Discovery Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.5 in 2022/23 and 37.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Discovery Academy rank locally?
- Discovery Academy ranked 10th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Discovery Academy's absence rate?
- Discovery Academy's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Discovery Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Discovery Academy'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 1 July 2026.