City of Derby Academy
Farmhouse Road, Sinfin, Derby, DE24 3AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- TAPESTRY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Ms C Backhouse
- Sponsor
- Djanogly Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Derby South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 925
- URN
- 145132
- Local authority
- Derby
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01332270450
About this school
City of Derby Academy is a secondary academy in Derby. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 925 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected City of Derby Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- 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 | 181 | 168 | 191 |
| Attainment 8 score | 30.1 | 32.3 | 34.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.80 -1.02 to -0.57 | -0.56 -0.79 to -0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 19% | 26.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 35% | 38.1% | 41.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 8.3% | 9.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.5 | 2.7 | 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 City of Derby 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 | Derby average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 30.1 | 37.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 32.3 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.8 | 38.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 961 |
| 2023/24 | 955 |
| 2024/25 | 913 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How City of Derby Academy compares
City of Derby Academy ranked 13th of 16 secondary schools in Derby for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.8 | 9.9% | 56.5% | 925 | — |
| Derby Moor Spencer Academy | 47.7 | 7.5% | 38.6% | 1,740 | 1.7 miles |
| Littleover Community School | 52.7 | 5.8% | 18.2% | 1,828 | 2.2 miles |
| Alvaston Moor Academy | 32.4 | 16.3% | 69.1% | 851 | 2.2 miles |
| Noel-Baker Academy | 36.3 | 11.9% | 47.2% | 1,230 | 2.3 miles |
| Chellaston Academy | 49.2 | 7.1% | 20% | 1,790 | 2.3 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)
- 56.52%
- English as an additional language
- 55.2%
- Overall absence
- 9.88%
- Persistent absence
- 34.3%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Derby Moor Spencer Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Littleover Community School2.2 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Alvaston Moor Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Noel-Baker Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Chellaston Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Derby
Other schools in Derby
City of Derby Academy ranks 15th of the 18 ranked secondary schools in Derby.
- Allestree Woodlands School Secondary
- Alvaston Moor Academy Secondary
- Castle Donington College Secondary
- Chellaston Academy Secondary
- Da Vinci Academy Secondary
- Derby Cathedral School Secondary
- Derby Moor Spencer Academy Secondary
- John Port Spencer Academy Secondary
- Landau Forte College Secondary
- Lees Brook Academy Secondary
- Littleover Community School Secondary
- Murray Park Community School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does City of Derby Academy teach?
- City of Derby Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Derby.
- Who is the headteacher of City of Derby Academy?
- The headteacher of City of Derby Academy is Ms C Backhouse, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has City of Derby Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected City of Derby 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 City of Derby Academy?
- City of Derby Academy has 925 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is City of Derby Academy full?
- City of Derby Academy has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 925 on roll (88%), 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 City of Derby Academy a faith school?
- No. City of Derby Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is City of Derby Academy part of an academy trust?
- City of Derby Academy is part of TAPESTRY LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have City of Derby Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 30.1 in 2022/23 and 34.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does City of Derby Academy compare with other schools in Derby?
- City of Derby Academy ranked 13th of 16 secondary schools in Derby for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is City of Derby Academy's absence rate?
- City of Derby Academy's overall absence rate is 9.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are City of Derby Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, City of Derby 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 10 July 2026.