Alder Community High School
Community school · 912 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.6
Academy sponsor led
Dixons Ashton Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,326of 1,350 places
- Free school meals
- 52.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 230
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 11 March 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registrations: Stamford High School (URN 106260); Hartshead Sports College (URN 106264).
What the data says
Dixons Ashton Academy has no sixth form. Of the 264 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 41% moved to a sixth form college, 37% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 41% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
12% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 38.1 against 46.1 across England and 43.6 in Tameside, with 30% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Tameside and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Dixons Ashton Academy | Tameside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 264 | 2,864 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 84% | 89% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 80% | 83% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 3% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 41% | 36% | 13% |
| — further education college | 37% | 43% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 12% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 4% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Dixons Ashton Academy | Tameside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 38.1 | 43.6 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 41% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 50% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 33% | 35% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.35 | 3.81 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 44% | 35% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 32.7 | 35.7 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 42.4 | 47.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 33% | 15% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 231 | 100% | 89% | 4% | 20% | 52% |
| Mathematics | 230 | 100% | 88% | 9% | 22% | 59% |
| English Literature | 230 | 100% | 86% | 8% | 21% | 52% |
| Combined Science | 189 | 82% | 65% | 2% | 9% | 52% |
| Geography | 113 | 49% | 41% | 8% | 25% | 39% |
| History | 107 | 47% | 41% | 14% | 26% | 58% |
| Business Studies | 77 | 33% | 18% | 12% | 20% | 60% |
| Citizenship Studies | 68 | 30% | 3% | 13% | 19% | 74% |
| French | 68 | 30% | 18% | 18% | 29% | 60% |
| Religious Studies | 42 | 18% | 31% | 36% | 32% | 74% |
| Computer Science | 42 | 18% | 13% | 14% | 30% | 43% |
| Art and Design | 33 | 14% | 7% | 12% | 24% | 64% |
| Film Studies | 30 | 13% | 1% | 10% | 20% | 47% |
| Biology | 25 | 11% | 23% | 36% | 45% | 92% |
| Photography | 24 | 10% | 6% | 25% | 19% | 83% |
| Physics | 23 | 10% | 23% | 35% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 23 | 10% | 23% | 35% | 47% | 96% |
| Design and Technology | 20 | 9% | 11% | 5% | 23% | 35% |
| Music | 10 | 4% | 5% | 0% | 33% | 30% |
| Textiles | 9 | 4% | 2% | 0% | 27% | 100% |
| Urdu | 8 | 3% | 1% | 75% | 42% | 100% |
| Polish | 5 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Italian | 4 | 2% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Spanish | 3 | 1% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
| Persian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
| Fine Art | 1 | 0% | 9% | — | 28% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 52 | — | — |
| Small Business Management | 47 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 39 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 10 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Tameside
All Saints Catholic College
Academy converter · 810 pupils
85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.5
Audenshaw School
Academy converter · 1,077 pupils
88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.5
Denton Community Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,107 pupils
73% stayed in education
Dixons Pennine Academy
Academy converter · 592 pupils
75% stayed in education · Attainment 8 35.8
Droylsden Academy
Academy sponsor led · 926 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.7
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.