Dene Academy

About Dene Academy

Dene Academy’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in November 2023, rated the school Good overall, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement judgement in 2018. The inspection found the quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management all to be Good. The most telling academic metric is the school’s Progress 8 score of 0.33, which is classed as Above average nationally. This means pupils at Dene Academy achieve nearly a third of a grade more per subject across eight GCSEs than students with similar starting points nationally. To put that in context, the average Progress 8 score for secondary schools in County Durham is -0.21, so Dene is performing well above its local authority peers. The school ranks 5th out of 31 secondary schools in County Durham on this measure, placing it in the top 16% of the local authority and the top 12% of schools in the North East region.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 GCSE results, pupils achieved an Attainment 8 score of 40.2, which is the average grade per pupil across eight qualifications. Just over 56% of students secured a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, while 29.2% achieved a grade 5 or better in those core subjects. The English Baccalaureate average point score was 3.25, and 30% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects. The school’s Progress 8 breakdown shows particularly strong progress in open subjects (0.92), with more modest but still positive progress in English (0.17) and maths (0.03). The school does not have a sixth form, so pupils leave after Year 11. With 641 pupils on roll against a capacity of 818, the school is not at full capacity, but it is oversubscribed for 2025/26: 113 first-preference applications were received for 113 places, and 202 total applications were made for those places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.79.

Dene Academy offers a wide range of facilities including a swimming pool, astro turf, theatre, music rooms, art studios, and a sports hall. Sports on offer include football, rugby, netball, hockey, athletics, rowing, and martial arts, while clubs cover coding, choir, orchestra, drama, film club, Duke of Edinburgh, and Model UN. The school has SEND provision for autistic spectrum disorder, dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, physical disability, and visual impairment. With 59.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average disadvantage, yet its academic outcomes are strong. This is a school that suits families looking for a non-selective, mixed secondary in County Durham where pupils make better-than-expected progress, particularly in open subjects, and where the school has clearly turned around its performance since its previous Requires Improvement rating.

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