Buxton Community School
College Road, Buxton, SK17 9EA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EMBARK MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Samantha Jones
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Embark Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- High Peak
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,331
- Pupils on roll
- 954
- URN
- 149645
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0129823122
About this school
Buxton Community School is a secondary academy in Buxton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 954 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 29 January 2020, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Buxton Community School (URN 112970).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 182 | 192 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.4 | 41.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.47 -0.68 to -0.26 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30.2% | 34.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 56.6% | 47.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 9.3% | 8.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 |
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 Buxton Community School 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 | — | 41.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.4 | 41.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.6 | 40.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,069 |
| 2024/25 | 1,031 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Buxton Community School compares
Buxton Community School ranked 31st of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% 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 | 41.6 | 9% | 29.6% | 954 | — |
| St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy | 49.5 | 8.3% | 30.8% | 407 | 0.9 miles |
| Chapel-en-le-Frith High School | 43.8 | 7.9% | 24.6% | 941 | 4.7 miles |
| New Mills School | 44.5 | 8.1% | 28.4% | 692 | 8.6 miles |
| Tytherington School | 50.1 | 6.6% | 18.7% | 1,421 | 8.6 miles |
| The Macclesfield Academy | 42.7 | 8.8% | 28% | 614 | 8.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 29.56%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.02%
- Persistent absence
- 24.86%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Buxton
-
Chapel-en-le-Frith High School4.7 miles
Secondary · High Peak
-
New Mills School8.6 miles
Secondary · High Peak
-
Tytherington School8.6 miles
Secondary · Macclesfield
-
The Macclesfield Academy8.9 miles
Secondary · Macclesfield
Other schools in Buxton
- St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Biggin CofE Primary School Primary
- Bishop Pursglove CofE (A) Primary School Primary
- Burbage Primary School Primary
- Buxton Infant School Primary
- Buxton Junior School Primary
- Dove Holes CofE Primary School Primary
- Earl Sterndale CofE Primary School Primary
- Fairfield Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Great Hucklow CE Primary Primary
- Harpur Hill Primary School Primary
- Hartington CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Buxton Community School teach?
- Buxton Community School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Buxton.
- Who is the headteacher of Buxton Community School?
- The headteacher of Buxton Community School is Mrs Samantha Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Buxton Community School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Buxton Community School, 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 Buxton Community School?
- Buxton Community School has 954 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Buxton Community School full?
- Buxton Community School has capacity for 1,331 pupils and 954 on roll (72%), 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 Buxton Community School a faith school?
- No. Buxton Community School has no designated religious character.
- Is Buxton Community School a selective school?
- No. Buxton Community School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Buxton Community School?
- Buxton Community School is part of EMBARK MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Buxton Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.4 in 2023/24 and 41.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Buxton Community School rank locally?
- Buxton Community School ranked 31st of 45 secondary schools in Derbyshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% 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 Buxton Community School's absence rate?
- Buxton Community School's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Buxton Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Buxton Community School'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.