The Macclesfield Academy
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The Macclesfield Academy is a sponsored academy in Macclesfield for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has 614 pupils, 14 more than it has places for. About 28 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 13 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 17% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2020.
Park Lane, Macclesfield, SK11 8JRmacclesfieldacademy.orgMr Mat Galvin headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 25 February 2020, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
This inspection is more than 6 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
123 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Cheshire East | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 123 | 120 | 118 | 116 | 82 | 81 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 42.7 | 45.5 | 40.0 | 41.7 | 44.2 | 38.7 | 45.2 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.18 | -0.57 | -0.59 | -0.11 | -0.67 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 34% | 43% | 33% | 38% | 29% | 32% | 41% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 59% | 63% | 54% | 62% | 63% | 52% | 65% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.70 | 4.15 | 3.55 | 3.35 | 3.96 | 3.01 | 3.91 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 42% | 57% | 49% | 47% | 35% | 0% | 36% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 28.8 | 32.4 | 26.7 | 30.6 | 32.7 | 28.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 48.5 | 50.2 | 45.6 | 45.6 | 49.5 | 42.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 31.3 | 25.2 | 28.7 | 26.3 | 21.2 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 65.3 | 54.6 | 64.6 | 60.6 | 55.5 | – | – |
† These results are for The Macclesfield Academy, the school this one replaced in December 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 19 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: History (34% here, 52% across England), English Literature (40% here, 58% across England), Combined Science (21% here, 36% across England), English Language (39% here, 54% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 123 | 14% | 46% | 67% | 53% | 2,048 of 3,211 |
| English Language | 123 | 8% | 39% | 61% | 54% | 2,622 of 3,210 |
| English Literature | 120 | 8% | 40% | 62% | 58% | 2,705 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 86 | 0% | 21% | 51% | 36% | 2,557 of 3,084 |
| Art and Design | 75 | 24% | 75% | 88% | 58% | 657 of 2,818 |
| History | 64 | 9% | 34% | 45% | 52% | 2,584 of 3,126 |
| Business | 56 | 9% | 39% | 52% | 51% | 1,207 of 1,806 |
| Biology | 33 | 27% | 79% | 91% | 82% | 1,699 of 2,570 |
| Geography | 33 | 27% | 61% | 76% | 51% | 800 of 3,116 |
| Physics | 31 | 39% | 84% | 94% | 82% | 1,436 of 2,546 |
| Chemistry | 31 | 29% | 71% | 97% | 81% | 1,917 of 2,537 |
| Spanish | 30 | 7% | 50% | 70% | 54% | 1,169 of 1,941 |
| French | 29 | 31% | 72% | 79% | 60% | 629 of 1,974 |
| Physical Education | 28 | 25% | 61% | 93% | 56% | 669 of 1,559 |
| Design & Technology | 21 | 10% | 52% | 62% | 50% | 641 of 1,478 |
| Computer Science | 20 | 20% | 55% | 65% | 56% | 897 of 1,861 |
| Drama | 14 | 14% | 79% | 79% | 60% | – |
| Music | 14 | 0% | 21% | 29% | 61% | – |
| Dance | 9 | 0% | 67% | 78% | 58% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
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. 1 of the 3 gaps 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.
Cheshire East council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 111 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.
Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.
125 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 (98 offers for 120 places). The furthest away lived 8.1 miles from the school.
| Entry | Places | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 120 | 98 | 8.1 miles | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 120 | 120 | 9.2 miles | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home inside the catchment costs
Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
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.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 14 pupils, for pupils with special educational needs.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (64), Specific learning difficulty (36), emotional and mental health (34), Moderate learning difficulty (5), language and communications needs (4), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 614 | 639 | 629 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 28% | 28% | 25% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 11% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 9% | 8% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 91.2% 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 | 8.8% | 9.0% | 9.1% | 10.7% | 7.7% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.8% | 7.3% | 6.0% | 8.0% | 6.1% | 3.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.0% | 1.7% | 3.1% | 2.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 24.2% | 24.9% | 26.4% | 31.3% | 21.4% | 8.7% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 26.8 | 12.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for The Macclesfield Academy, the school this one replaced in December 2023. 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Hallows Catholic College | Academy | 780 m | 1,216 | No overall grade 2024 | 69 | Compare |
| Tytherington School | Academy | 1.4 miles | 1,421 | Report card 2026 | 70 | Compare |
| The Fallibroome Academy | Academy | 1.7 miles | 1,532 | Good 2022 | 81 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares The Macclesfield Academy with the 49 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 49 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 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than The Macclesfield 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mills School | Council | 9.9 miles | 692 | No overall grade 2025 | 53 | Compare |
| Westwood College | Academy | 10.7 miles | 735 | Requires improvement 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| St Edward's Church of England Academy | Academy | 10.9 miles | 662 | No overall grade 2024 | 61 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 13 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 13% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 9 to 18. 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 | 20% | below | -0.13 | 2025 results; 123 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 12% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | well below | -0.33 | Ofsted grade, 6.5 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.20 | Contextualised attainment (no DfE progress measure available); 123 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.01 | 2024/25; 645 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.10 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 123 pupils |
| 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 The Macclesfield Academy a good school?
The figures are weak. The Macclesfield Academy scores 13 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 17% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 9 to 18, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is The Macclesfield Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated The Macclesfield Academy requires improvement at its last full inspection on 25 February 2020. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How good are The Macclesfield Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 34% 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 42.7, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished a little ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does The Macclesfield Academy have?
614 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 600 places, so it is 102% full.
Is The Macclesfield Academy oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 8.1 miles away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at The Macclesfield Academy?
Pupils were in school 91.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 24% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at The Macclesfield Academy?
The average class had 20.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does The Macclesfield 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
- Park Lane, Macclesfield, SK11 8JR
- Website
- www.macclesfieldacademy.org
- Headteacher
- Mr Mat Galvin
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- The Sir John Brunner Foundation (4 schools)
- Local authority
- Cheshire East
- Ward
- Macclesfield Central
- Constituency
- Macclesfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2023 (fresh start)
- URN
- 150483 · LAESTAB 8954006 · UKPRN 10094336
- Formerly
- The Macclesfield Academy
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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: Cheshire East council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2025, 2026.
- Catchment area: Cheshire East council open data (Open Government Licence), reprojected to WGS84.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.