St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy

About St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy in High Peak is a secondary school for 11 to 16 year olds that currently has 419 pupils on roll against a capacity of 450, so it is running close to full but with a small amount of headroom. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 30.3%, which is significantly above the national average and signals that the school serves a community with higher-than-typical levels of disadvantage. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 academic year, the school received 126 applications for just 50 places, with exactly 50 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.52. That level of competition suggests local families see it as a viable option despite the challenges its intake profile presents. As a Roman Catholic voluntary academy, it draws from a faith-based catchment, though its religious character is just one factor in its appeal.

Academically, the school’s most recent data tells a mixed story. Its Progress 8 score is -0.51, which is well below the local authority average of -0.11 and places it 37th out of 46 similar schools in Derbyshire. The Attainment 8 score sits at 39.2, and the basics measure at grade 4 or above in English and maths is 51.1%, dropping to 28.9% at grade 5 or above. EBacc entry is low at 10%, with only 6.7% achieving the benchmark at grade 4 or above. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2025, the school was rated Good across all areas including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in January 2023, when it was judged to require improvement across the board. The Ofsted report notes that the school is not judged for overall effectiveness in the latest inspection, but the individual Good ratings represent a notable turnaround.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including science labs, a swimming pool, playing fields, music rooms, a theatre, an ICT suite, and a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, rugby, tennis, rowing, gymnastics, and martial arts, while clubs include science club, Model UN, choir, orchestra, art club, and debate. For SEND, the school supports a wide range of needs including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health, speech language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 113 respondents show 81% would recommend the school, with strong majorities agreeing that their child is happy, feels safe, and does well. However, only 26% agreed that concerns are dealt with properly, and 19% disagreed that the school makes them aware of what their child will learn. This school will suit families who value the recent Ofsted improvement, the faith context, and the broad extracurricular offer, but who are realistic about the academic outcomes relative to the local picture.

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