Dixons Pennine Academy
Huddersfield Road, Stalybridge, SK15 3RR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- DIXONS ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Rachael Deakin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Dixons Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Stalybridge and Hyde
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 790
- Pupils on roll
- 592
- URN
- 139294
- Local authority
- Tameside
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01613386684
About this school
Dixons Pennine Academy is a secondary academy in Stalybridge. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 592 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Good
- 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 | 110 | 120 | 105 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.7 | 32.7 | 35.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.70 -0.97 to -0.44 | -0.90 -1.16 to -0.65 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 12.5% | 13.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 33.3% | 34.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 36% | 17.5% | 26.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
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 Dixons Pennine 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 | Tameside average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 36.7 | 42.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.7 | 39.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.8 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 603 |
| 2023/24 | 622 |
| 2024/25 | 574 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Dixons Pennine Academy compares
Dixons Pennine Academy ranked 12th of 13 secondary schools in Tameside for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.8 | 10.4% | 45% | 592 | — |
| West Hill School | 43.5 | 6.5% | 29.5% | 852 | 1.1 miles |
| Rayner Stephens High School | 35.6 | 13.1% | 49.8% | 635 | 1.8 miles |
| All Saints Catholic College | 37.5 | 9.1% | 40.6% | 810 | 1.9 miles |
| Dixons Ashton Academy | 38.1 | 10.9% | 50.1% | 1,326 | 2.2 miles |
| St Damian's RC Science College | 55.1 | 5.2% | 25% | 829 | 2.2 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 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.95%
- English as an additional language
- 10.6%
- Overall absence
- 10.38%
- Persistent absence
- 30.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
West Hill School1.1 miles
Secondary · Stalybridge
-
Rayner Stephens High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Dukinfield
-
All Saints Catholic College1.9 miles
Secondary · Dukinfield
-
Dixons Ashton Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Ashton-under-Lyne
-
St Damian's RC Science College2.2 miles
Secondary · Ashton-under-Lyne
Other schools in Stalybridge
- West Hill School Secondary
- Arlies Primary School Primary
- Buckton Vale Primary School Primary
- Dixons Silver Springs Primary Primary
- Gorse Hall Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Millbrook Primary School Primary
- St Paul's CofE Primary School, Stalybridge Primary
- St Raphael's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St. Peter's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Primary
- Stalyhill Infant School Primary
- Stalyhill Junior School Primary
- Wild Bank Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Dixons Pennine Academy teach?
- Dixons Pennine Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stalybridge.
- Who is the principal of Dixons Pennine Academy?
- The principal of Dixons Pennine Academy is Mrs Rachael Deakin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Dixons Pennine Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dixons Pennine 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 Dixons Pennine Academy?
- Dixons Pennine Academy has 592 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Dixons Pennine Academy full?
- Dixons Pennine Academy has capacity for 790 pupils and 592 on roll (75%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Dixons Pennine Academy a faith school?
- No. Dixons Pennine Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Dixons Pennine Academy a selective school?
- No. Dixons Pennine Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Dixons Pennine Academy?
- Dixons Pennine Academy is part of DIXONS 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 Dixons Pennine Academy have?
- The schools register lists Dixons Pennine 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 Dixons Pennine Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.7 in 2022/23 and 35.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Dixons Pennine Academy rank locally?
- Dixons Pennine Academy ranked 12th of 13 secondary schools in Tameside for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Dixons Pennine Academy's absence rate?
- Dixons Pennine Academy's overall absence rate is 10.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dixons Pennine Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dixons Pennine 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.