The Ripley Academy
Peasehill, Ripley, DE5 3JQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Helen Frost-Briggs
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- East Midlands Education Trust
- Constituency
- Amber Valley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,116
- Pupils on roll
- 920
- URN
- 141259
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01773746334
About this school
The Ripley Academy is a secondary academy in Ripley. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 920 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Ripley Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 115 | 125 | 117 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.0 | 44.8 | 44.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.31 -0.57 to -0.05 | -0.21 -0.46 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 46.4% | 42.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 66.4% | 64.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 27.2% | 24.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
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 Ripley 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 | Derbyshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.8 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.5 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 841 |
| 2023/24 | 873 |
| 2024/25 | 900 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Ripley Academy compares
The Ripley Academy ranked 20th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.5 | 7.7% | 34.6% | 920 | — |
| Swanwick Hall School | 42.6 | 9.4% | 40.9% | 1,025 | 2.0 miles |
| John Flamsteed Community School | 53.3 | 7% | 18.9% | 850 | 2.4 miles |
| Aldercar High School | 33.9 | 10.4% | 43% | 648 | 2.5 miles |
| Heanor Gate Spencer Academy | 49.6 | 6% | 32.7% | 1,493 | 2.5 miles |
| Belper School and Sixth Form Centre | 44.3 | 8.1% | 21.6% | 1,212 | 3.0 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report5 February 2025
- 4 February 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 34.57%
- English as an additional language
- 2.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.74%
- Persistent absence
- 20.24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Swanwick Hall School2.0 miles
Secondary · Alfreton
-
John Flamsteed Community School2.4 miles
Secondary · Ripley
-
Aldercar High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Heanor Gate Spencer Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Heanor
-
Belper School and Sixth Form Centre3.0 miles
Secondary · Belper
Other schools in Ripley
- John Flamsteed Community School Secondary
- Ripley Nursery School Nursery
- Codnor Community Primary School Church of England Controlled Primary
- Denby Free CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Lons Infant School Primary
- Ripley Infant School Primary
- Ripley Junior School Primary
- Ripley St John's Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Street Lane Primary School Primary
- Waingroves Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Ripley Academy teach?
- The Ripley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ripley.
- Who is the principal of The Ripley Academy?
- The principal of The Ripley Academy is Mrs Helen Frost-Briggs, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Ripley Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Ripley 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 many pupils are at The Ripley Academy?
- The Ripley Academy has 920 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Ripley Academy full?
- The Ripley Academy has capacity for 1,116 pupils and 920 on roll (82%), 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 The Ripley Academy a faith school?
- No. The Ripley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Ripley Academy a selective school?
- No. The Ripley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Ripley Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Ripley Academy is part of EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Ripley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42 in 2022/23 and 44.5 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 Ripley Academy compare with other schools in Derbyshire?
- The Ripley Academy ranked 20th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% 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 Ripley Academy's absence rate?
- The Ripley Academy's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Ripley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Ripley 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.