Denton Community Academy
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Denton Community Academy is a sponsored academy in Manchester for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,107 pupils and room for 1,530. About 38 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 0 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 0% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inadequate, back in 2022.
Taylor Lane, Denton, Manchester, M34 3NG0161 336 2219dca.northerneducationtrust.orgMr Donald Cumming headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 14 December 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Inadequate overall.
Ofsted has serious worries about this school. It is in special measures.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 3 November 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
266 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of Denton Community College, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Tameside | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 266 | 254 | 268 | 288 | 228 | 235 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 42.9 | 38.5 | 36.4 | 40.8 | 39.5 | 40.1 | 44.2 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.33 | -0.74 | -0.57 | -0.44 | -0.26 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 52% | 44% | 26% | 38% | 33% | 33% | 40% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 67% | 62% | 49% | 56% | 54% | 57% | 62% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.71 | 3.33 | 3.00 | 3.38 | 3.20 | 3.14 | 3.85 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 9% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 18% | 10% | 37% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 37.5 | 29.7 | 29.8 | 32.3 | 34.3 | 34.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 46.4 | 45.2 | 40.1 | 45.9 | 43.5 | 43.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 22.2 | 23.0 | 25.3 | 20.1 | 21.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 63.9 | 55.5 | 61.3 | 54.6 | 55.1 | – | – |
† These results are for Denton Community College, the school this one replaced in January 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
251 places were empty (17% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (153 offers for 270 places).
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (61), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (48), Moderate learning difficulty (34), language and communications needs (33), Autistic spectrum disorder (17), Specific learning difficulty (16).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,107 | 1,281 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 38% | 35% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 9% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 17% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 84.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 15.8% | 16.5% | 13.3% | 13.5% | 8.1% | 5.8% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.6% | 4.9% | 4.4% | 6.5% | 4.0% | 2.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 11.2% | 11.6% | 8.8% | 7.0% | 4.2% | 3.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 41.9% | 44.4% | 38.2% | 41.8% | 23.3% | 12.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 154.3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for Denton Community College, the school this one replaced in January 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audenshaw School | Academy | 910 m | 1,077 | Good 2023 | 65 | Compare |
| St Thomas More RC College | Roman Catholic | 0.7 miles | 797 | Good 2022 | 67 | Compare |
| Wright Robinson College | Academy | 1.3 miles | 1,781 | Report card 2026 | 82 | Compare |
| Fairfield High School for Girls | Academy | 1.6 miles | 986 | Good 2022 | 79 | Compare |
| Hyde High School | Academy | 1.6 miles | 1,134 | Requires improvement 2023 | – | Compare |
| Reddish Vale High School | Academy | 1.9 miles | 999 | Report card 2026 | 16 | Compare |
| All Saints Catholic College | Academy | 2.1 miles | 810 | No overall grade 2025 | 9 | Compare |
| Droylsden Academy | Academy | 2.2 miles | 926 | Good 2022 | 55 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Denton Community Academy with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Denton Community Academy, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reddish Vale High School | Academy | 1.9 miles | 999 | Report card 2026 | 16 | Compare |
| Dixons Middleton Academy | Academy | 6.6 miles | 1,319 | Good 2024 | 16 | Compare |
| Philips High School | Academy | 9.5 miles | 868 | Requires improvement 2022 | 66 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 0 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 0% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 0 to 0. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 18% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | well below | -1.94 | Ofsted grade, 3.7 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.91 | 2024/25; 1,314 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What pupils do next | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Denton Community Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. Denton Community Academy scores 0 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 0% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 0 to 0, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Denton Community Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Denton Community Academy inadequate at its last full inspection on 14 December 2022.
How good are Denton Community Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 52% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 42.9, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Denton Community Academy have?
1,107 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,530 places, so it is 72% full.
Is Denton Community Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 251 places were empty in 2024/25 (17% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Denton Community Academy?
Pupils were in school 84.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 42% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Denton Community Academy?
The average class had 25.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 14% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Denton Community Academy have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Taylor Lane, Denton, Manchester, M34 3NG
- Telephone
- 0161 336 2219
- Website
- dca.northerneducationtrust.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Donald Cumming
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Northern Education Trust (30 schools)
- Local authority
- Tameside
- Ward
- Denton North East
- Constituency
- Gorton and Denton
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 January 2025 (new provision)
- URN
- 151485 · LAESTAB 3574010 · UKPRN 10096977
- Formerly
- Denton Community College
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Tameside council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.