Aldercar High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 648 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.9
Academy sponsor led
St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 577of 485 places
- Free school meals
- 28.8%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 111
- Ofsted
- Report card, 6 January 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Expected standardAchievement Expected standardAttendance and behaviour Strong standardPersonal development and wellbeing Strong standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Expected standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Philip Howard Catholic School (URN 112972, until 29 April 2015).
What the data says
St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy has no sixth form. Of the 119 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 42% moved to a sixth form college, 38% to a further education college and 5% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 42% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 32% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 40.5 against 46.1 across England and 45.0 in Derbyshire, with 25% 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 Derbyshire and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | This school | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 119 | 7,796 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 84% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 3% | 34% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 42% | 5% | 13% |
| — further education college | 38% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 4% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 40.5 | 45.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 43% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 18% | 30% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.30 | 3.92 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 24% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 32.3 | 34.0 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 43.1 | 49.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 3% | 4% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religious Studies | 110 | 99% | 31% | 13% | 32% | 47% |
| English Language | 110 | 99% | 89% | 10% | 20% | 63% |
| Mathematics | 109 | 98% | 88% | 2% | 22% | 59% |
| English Literature | 109 | 98% | 86% | 6% | 21% | 56% |
| Combined Science | 77 | 69% | 65% | 0% | 9% | 40% |
| Geography | 48 | 43% | 41% | 6% | 25% | 46% |
| Computer Science | 44 | 40% | 13% | 7% | 30% | 57% |
| History | 38 | 34% | 41% | 26% | 26% | 63% |
| Art and Design | 35 | 32% | 7% | 26% | 24% | 71% |
| Spanish | 32 | 29% | 19% | 6% | 27% | 63% |
| Chemistry | 31 | 28% | 23% | 13% | 47% | 94% |
| Physics | 31 | 28% | 23% | 3% | 46% | 90% |
| Biology | 30 | 27% | 23% | 10% | 45% | 97% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 26 | 23% | 8% | 15% | 21% | 62% |
| Physical Education | 23 | 21% | 11% | 0% | 24% | 43% |
| Music | 10 | 9% | 5% | 10% | 33% | 60% |
| Persian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 30 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 26 | — | — |
| Manufacturing Engineering | 14 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Derbyshire
Anthony Gell School
Academy converter · sixth form · 776 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.8
Belper School and Sixth Form Centre
Foundation school · sixth form · 1,212 pupils
85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.3
Brookfield Community School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,156 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.8
Buxton Community School
Academy converter · sixth form · 954 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.6
Chapel-en-le-Frith High School
Community school · 941 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.8
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.