John Port Spencer Academy
Main Street, Etwall, Derby, DE65 6LU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Laura O'Leary
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Spencer Academies Trust
- Constituency
- South Derbyshire
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,070
- Pupils on roll
- 2,034
- URN
- 145500
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01283734111
About this school
John Port Spencer Academy is a secondary academy in Derby. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 2,034 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
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 302 | 298 | 320 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.0 | 50.0 | 51.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.20 +0.04 to +0.36 | +0.11 -0.05 to +0.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 61% | 54.7% | 54.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79% | 76.2% | 79.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 21.5% | 18.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 |
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 John Port Spencer 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 | 53 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.4 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,929 |
| 2023/24 | 1,966 |
| 2024/25 | 2,023 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How John Port Spencer Academy compares
John Port Spencer Academy ranked 5th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.4 | 6.8% | 17.7% | 2,034 | — |
| Littleover Community School | 52.7 | 5.8% | 18.2% | 1,828 | 3.5 miles |
| Derby Moor Spencer Academy | 47.7 | 7.5% | 38.6% | 1,740 | 3.8 miles |
| Murray Park Community School | 40.6 | 9% | 35.5% | 1,277 | 3.9 miles |
| The de Ferrers Academy | 46.5 | 8% | 25.7% | 2,403 | 4.1 miles |
| City of Derby Academy | 34.8 | 9.9% | 56.5% | 925 | 4.7 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)
- 17.72%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.83%
- Persistent absence
- 19.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Littleover Community School3.5 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Derby Moor Spencer Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
Murray Park Community School3.9 miles
Secondary · Derby
-
The de Ferrers Academy4.1 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
City of Derby Academy4.7 miles
Secondary · Derby
Other schools in Derby
John Port Spencer Academy ranks 3rd of the 18 ranked secondary schools in Derby.
- Allestree Woodlands School Secondary
- Alvaston Moor Academy Secondary
- Castle Donington College Secondary
- Chellaston Academy Secondary
- City of Derby Academy Secondary
- Da Vinci Academy Secondary
- Derby Cathedral School Secondary
- Derby Moor Spencer Academy Secondary
- Landau Forte College Secondary
- Lees Brook Academy Secondary
- Littleover Community School Secondary
- Murray Park Community School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does John Port Spencer Academy teach?
- John Port Spencer Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Derby.
- Who is the headteacher of John Port Spencer Academy?
- The headteacher of John Port Spencer Academy is Miss Laura O'Leary, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was John Port Spencer Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected John Port Spencer 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 John Port Spencer Academy?
- John Port Spencer Academy has 2,034 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is John Port Spencer Academy full?
- John Port Spencer Academy has capacity for 2,070 pupils and 2,034 on roll (98%), 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 John Port Spencer Academy a faith school?
- No. John Port Spencer Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is John Port Spencer Academy a selective school?
- No. John Port Spencer Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs John Port Spencer Academy?
- John Port Spencer Academy is part of THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have John Port Spencer Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53 in 2022/23 and 51.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does John Port Spencer Academy rank locally?
- John Port Spencer Academy ranked 5th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 80% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is John Port Spencer Academy's absence rate?
- John Port Spencer Academy's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are John Port Spencer Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Port Spencer 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.