The Excel Academy
Milton Road, Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 6LG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ALPHA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Miss Anna Steele
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- ALPHA Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Stoke-on-Trent Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,184
- URN
- 140633
- Local authority
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01782882700
About this school
The Excel Academy is a secondary academy in Stoke-on-Trent. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,184 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 25 November 2021, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 203 | 223 | 242 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.2 | 39.8 | 37.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.40 -0.59 to -0.20 | -0.57 -0.76 to -0.38 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 31.4% | 29.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 55.2% | 51.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 39.9% | 31.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
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 The Excel 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 | 42.2 | 31.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.8 | 29.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.5 | 30.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,144 |
| 2023/24 | 1,189 |
| 2024/25 | 1,208 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Excel Academy compares
The Excel Academy ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.5 | 10.7% | 34.8% | 1,184 | — |
| Birches Head Academy | 31.3 | 11.9% | 47.2% | 925 | 0.5 miles |
| Haywood Academy | 36.1 | 12.2% | 46.7% | 1,080 | 1.4 miles |
| Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent | 42.7 | 10.2% | 52.1% | 1,300 | 2.2 miles |
| St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy | 43 | 7.1% | 37.6% | 1,143 | 2.2 miles |
| Ormiston Horizon Academy | 37.3 | 11.6% | 42.5% | 1,029 | 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)
- 34.77%
- English as an additional language
- 10.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.66%
- Persistent absence
- 28.98%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Birches Head Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Haywood Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent2.2 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Stoke-on-Trent
-
Ormiston Horizon Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Stoke on Trent
Other schools in Stoke-on-Trent
The Excel Academy ranks 17th 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
- Discovery Academy Secondary
- Endon High School Secondary
- Haywood Academy Secondary
- Kidsgrove Secondary School Secondary
- Moorside High School Secondary
- Ormiston Meridian Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Excel Academy teach?
- The Excel Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Who is the principal of The Excel Academy?
- The principal of The Excel Academy is Miss Anna Steele, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Excel Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Excel 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 The Excel Academy?
- The Excel Academy has 1,184 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Excel Academy full?
- The Excel Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,184 on roll (99%), 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 The Excel Academy a faith school?
- No. The Excel Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Excel Academy a selective school?
- No. The Excel Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Excel Academy?
- The Excel 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.
- How have The Excel Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.2 in 2022/23 and 37.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Excel Academy rank locally?
- The Excel Academy ranked 9th of 14 secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 32% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Excel Academy's absence rate?
- The Excel Academy's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Excel Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Excel 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.