St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy
Palace Fields, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AF ·
At a glance
A state Roman Catholic secondary academy for ages 11–16 in Buxton. Ofsted inspection (June 2025): Good or better in all areas (no overall grade was given). GCSE results are above the England average (Attainment 8: 49.5 vs 46.1, 2024/25). 86 families put it first for 87 places (September 2026 entry).
- Ages
- 11–16
- Pupils
- 407
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- No
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Academy trust
- ST RALPH SHERWIN CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr David Redfern
- Opened
- Sept 2018
Inspection
Ofsted (framework in use until November 2025)
Inspections from September 2024 did not give an overall grade, only the separate judgements below.
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
Safeguarding effective: Yes
Exam results
Department for Education performance tables
GCSE results, 2024/25 · 89 pupils
Attainment 8 over time
Progress 8 isn't published for 2024/25 because those pupils had no KS2 test results (tests were cancelled in 2020). Exams were not held in 2019/20 or 2020/21.
Admissions
Demand for places and how places are allocated
Year 7 entry, September 2026 (national offer day data)
86 of 86 first-preference applicants were offered a place (100%). 1 offers went to families living in another council area.
Earlier years include data recorded for this school's predecessor.
Catchment area
We don't have an official catchment boundary for this school. Many schools don't have one, and few councils publish boundaries as open data. We don't estimate catchments. Check the school's admissions policy or the council's admissions booklet.
Last distance offered
Not published nationally. Many councils publish the furthest distance offered for each school in their annual allocation reports. Past distances vary year to year with demand and sibling numbers, so they are not a guarantee.
Pupils
School census 2024/25
- Eligible for free school meals (last 6 years)30.8%
- English as an additional language7.6%
- SEN support17.9%
- Education, Health and Care plan4.3%
- The black tick shows the median for state-funded secondary schools in England.