Dover Christ Church Academy
Melbourne Avenue, Dover, CT16 2EG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- TURNER SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Mr Matthew Tate
- Sponsor
- Turner Schools
- SEN provision
- PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 990
- Pupils on roll
- 761
- URN
- 150278
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01304820126
About this school
Dover Christ Church Academy is a secondary academy in Dover. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 761 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Dover Christ Church 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
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Dover Christ Church Academy (URN 136175).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 129 | 133 |
| Attainment 8 score | 27.7 | 30.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.13 -1.38 to -0.89 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 9.3% | 8.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 24% | 27.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 3.9% | 0.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.3 | 2.4 |
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 Dover Christ Church 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 27.7 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 30.4 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 815 |
| 2024/25 | 722 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Dover Christ Church Academy compares
Dover Christ Church Academy ranked 97th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30.4 | 8.1% | 50.6% | 761 | — |
| St Edmund's Catholic School | 39 | 9.8% | 41.7% | 644 | 1.0 miles |
| Dover Grammar School for Girls | 59.9 | 6.9% | 19.3% | 847 | 1.2 miles |
| Duke of York's Royal Military School | 55 | — | 8.3% | 470 | 1.2 miles |
| Dover Grammar School for Boys | 65.4 | 5.9% | 21.8% | 960 | 1.6 miles |
| Astor Secondary School | 27.9 | 13.3% | 62% | 732 | 1.7 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)
- 50.57%
- English as an additional language
- 4.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.09%
- Persistent absence
- 27.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund's Catholic School1.0 miles
Secondary · Dover
-
Dover Grammar School for Girls1.2 miles
Secondary · Dover
-
Duke of York's Royal Military School1.2 miles
Secondary · Dover
-
Dover Grammar School for Boys1.6 miles
Secondary · Dover
-
Astor Secondary School1.7 miles
Secondary · Dover
Other schools in Dover
Dover Christ Church Academy ranks 5th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Dover.
- Astor Secondary School Secondary
- Dover Grammar School for Boys Secondary
- Dover Grammar School for Girls Secondary
- Duke of York's Royal Military School Secondary
- St Edmund's Catholic School Secondary
- Aycliffe Community Primary School Primary
- Barton Junior School Primary
- Charlton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School Primary
- Green Park Community Primary School Primary
- Guston Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Dover Christ Church Academy teach?
- Dover Christ Church Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Dover.
- Who is the headteacher of Dover Christ Church Academy?
- The headteacher of Dover Christ Church Academy is Mr Matthew Tate, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Dover Christ Church Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dover Christ Church 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 Dover Christ Church Academy?
- Dover Christ Church Academy has 761 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Dover Christ Church Academy full?
- Dover Christ Church Academy has capacity for 990 pupils and 761 on roll (77%), 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 Dover Christ Church Academy a faith school?
- No. Dover Christ Church Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Dover Christ Church Academy part of an academy trust?
- Dover Christ Church Academy is part of TURNER SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Dover Christ Church Academy have?
- The schools register lists Dover Christ Church Academy's special educational needs provision as: PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Dover Christ Church Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 27.7 in 2023/24 and 30.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Dover Christ Church Academy compare with other schools in Kent?
- Dover Christ Church Academy ranked 97th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Dover Christ Church Academy's absence rate?
- Dover Christ Church Academy's overall absence rate is 8.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dover Christ Church Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dover Christ Church 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 3 July 2026.