Aldercar High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 648 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.9
Academy converter
St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 407of 450 places
- Free school meals
- 33.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 89
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 3 June 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Thomas More Catholic School Buxton (URN 112971, until 1 September 2018).
What the data says
St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy has no sixth form. Of the 84 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 32% moved to a sixth form college, 52% to a further education college and 5% started an apprenticeship.
Food Preparation and Nutrition is unusually popular at GCSE: 33% of the year group took it, against 8% of pupils across England.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 32% of leavers went to one, roughly twice the England rate of 13%.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.5 against 46.1 across England and 45.0 in Derbyshire, with 47% 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 | 84 | 7,796 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 98% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 5% | 34% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 32% | 5% | 13% |
| — further education college | 52% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 1% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 49.5 | 45.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 43% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 81% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 24% | 30% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.10 | 3.92 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 21% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 38.5 | 34.0 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 52.5 | 49.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 9% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 89 | 100% | 89% | 20% | 20% | 81% |
| Mathematics | 89 | 100% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 82% |
| English Literature | 87 | 98% | 86% | 17% | 21% | 87% |
| Religious Studies | 86 | 97% | 31% | 27% | 32% | 67% |
| Combined Science | 70 | 79% | 65% | 3% | 9% | 67% |
| History | 51 | 57% | 41% | 18% | 26% | 61% |
| Geography | 41 | 46% | 41% | 24% | 25% | 76% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 29 | 33% | 8% | 14% | 21% | 79% |
| Computer Science | 26 | 29% | 13% | 15% | 30% | 42% |
| Fine Art | 26 | 29% | 9% | 42% | 28% | 96% |
| Design and Technology | 22 | 25% | 11% | 14% | 23% | 95% |
| French | 20 | 22% | 18% | 20% | 29% | 70% |
| Biology | 17 | 19% | 23% | 53% | 45% | 94% |
| Chemistry | 16 | 18% | 23% | 56% | 47% | 100% |
| Physics | 16 | 18% | 23% | 63% | 46% | 100% |
| Drama | 15 | 17% | 7% | 0% | 27% | 67% |
| Music | 7 | 8% | 5% | 29% | 33% | 86% |
| Polish | 6 | 7% | 1% | 83% | 84% | 100% |
| Modern Greek | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 33% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Studies | 23 | — | — |
| Additional Mathematics FSMQ | 5 | — | — |
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.