The Pingle Academy
Coronation Street, Swadlincote, DE11 0QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- AFFINITY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Acting Headteacher
- Mrs Michelle Oliphant
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The de Ferrers Trust
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- South Derbyshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,376
- Pupils on roll
- 1,363
- URN
- 144069
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01283216837
About this school
The Pingle Academy is a secondary academy in Swadlincote. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,363 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Pingle 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Post-16 provision
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 236 | 265 | 224 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.4 | 42.3 | 39.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 -0.22 to +0.15 | -0.11 -0.28 to +0.07 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 46.8% | 37.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 65.3% | 58.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 7.9% | 8.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
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 Pingle 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 | 43.4 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.3 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.2 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,427 |
| 2023/24 | 1,419 |
| 2024/25 | 1,375 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Pingle Academy compares
The Pingle Academy ranked 41st of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.2 | 9% | 35.1% | 1,363 | — |
| Mercia Academy | 32.6 | 13.1% | 44.6% | 592 | 0.8 miles |
| Granville Academy | 46.5 | 6.7% | 36.7% | 914 | 1.2 miles |
| Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 6.3% | 23.4% | 632 | 2.1 miles |
| Paulet High School | 41 | 7.9% | 26.2% | 915 | 2.2 miles |
| Abbot Beyne School | 39.4 | 10.1% | 33% | 834 | 2.9 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
-
Graded inspection report24 February 2026
- 12 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.1%
- English as an additional language
- 2.8%
- Overall absence
- 9.03%
- Persistent absence
- 23.54%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mercia Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Swadlincote
-
Granville Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Swadlincote
-
Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Paulet High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Abbot Beyne School2.9 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
Other schools in Swadlincote
- Granville Academy Secondary
- Mercia Academy Secondary
- Albert Village Primary School Primary
- Blackfordby St Margaret's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Church Gresley Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Coton-in-the-Elms Cof E Primary School Primary
- Donisthorpe Primary School Primary
- Elmsleigh Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Eureka Primary School Primary
- Fairmeadows Foundation Primary School Primary
- Hartshorne CofE Primary School Primary
- Linton Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Pingle Academy teach?
- The Pingle Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Swadlincote.
- Who is the acting headteacher of The Pingle Academy?
- The acting headteacher of The Pingle Academy is Mrs Michelle Oliphant, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Pingle Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Pingle 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 Pingle Academy?
- The Pingle Academy has 1,363 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Pingle Academy full?
- The Pingle Academy has capacity for 1,376 pupils and 1,363 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 Pingle Academy a faith school?
- No. The Pingle Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Pingle Academy a selective school?
- No. The Pingle Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Pingle Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Pingle Academy is part of AFFINITY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Pingle Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Pingle Academy's special educational needs provision as: OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Pingle Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.4 in 2022/23 and 39.2 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 Pingle Academy compare with other schools in Derbyshire?
- The Pingle Academy ranked 41st of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% 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 Pingle Academy's absence rate?
- The Pingle Academy's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Pingle Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Pingle 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 15 July 2026.