Mercia Academy
Sunnyside, Newhall, Swadlincote, DE11 0TL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LIONHEART EDUCATIONAL TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Nick Holmes
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Lionheart Academies Trust
- Constituency
- South Derbyshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 592
- URN
- 149380
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01283216404
About this school
Mercia Academy is a secondary academy in Swadlincote. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 592 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Mercia 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. 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 | 109 | 89 | 112 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.6 | 38.0 | 32.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.45 -0.72 to -0.18 | -0.27 -0.57 to +0.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 27% | 23.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 47% | 49.4% | 36.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 12.4% | 5.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.6 |
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 Mercia 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 | 37.6 | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32.6 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 588 |
| 2023/24 | 583 |
| 2024/25 | 579 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Mercia Academy compares
Mercia Academy ranked 45th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32.6 | 13.1% | 44.6% | 592 | — |
| The Pingle Academy | 39.2 | 9% | 35.1% | 1,363 | 0.8 miles |
| Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 6.3% | 23.4% | 632 | 1.5 miles |
| Paulet High School | 41 | 7.9% | 26.2% | 915 | 1.6 miles |
| Granville Academy | 46.5 | 6.7% | 36.7% | 914 | 1.9 miles |
| Abbot Beyne School | 39.4 | 10.1% | 33% | 834 | 2.1 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)
- 44.56%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 13.08%
- Persistent absence
- 36.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Pingle Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Swadlincote
-
Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Paulet High School1.6 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
-
Granville Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Swadlincote
-
Abbot Beyne School2.1 miles
Secondary · Burton-on-Trent
Other schools in Swadlincote
- Granville Academy Secondary
- The Pingle 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 Mercia Academy teach?
- Mercia Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Swadlincote.
- Who is the headteacher of Mercia Academy?
- The headteacher of Mercia Academy is Mr Nick Holmes, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Mercia Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Mercia 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 Mercia Academy?
- Mercia Academy has 592 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Mercia Academy full?
- Mercia Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 592 on roll (79%), 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 Mercia Academy a faith school?
- No. Mercia Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Mercia Academy a selective school?
- No. Mercia Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Mercia Academy part of an academy trust?
- Mercia Academy is part of LIONHEART EDUCATIONAL TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Mercia Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.6 in 2022/23 and 32.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Mercia Academy compare with other schools in Derbyshire?
- Mercia Academy ranked 45th of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Mercia Academy's absence rate?
- Mercia Academy's overall absence rate is 13.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Mercia Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Mercia 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.