Highfields School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Derbyshire
Upper Lumsdale, Matlock, DE4 5NA
65
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Standards maintained
No graded inspection
Application demand
97%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.9%
14.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,298
Capacity used
Nearly full93%
1,394 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
97%
1st preference success rate
198 of 205 families who put it first got an offer
203
Places offered
352
Total applications
1.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 205 | 198 | ● 97% |
| 2nd preference | 109 | 4 | ● 4% |
| 3rd preference | 38 | 1 | ● 3% |
| Total | 352 | 203 | 58% |
1st preference success by year
Derbyshire lets families list 3 preferences. 3 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Andrew Marsh
- Address
- Upper Lumsdale, Matlock, DE4 5NA
- Phone
- 01629581888
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Ward / constituency
- Matlock East & Tansley · Derbyshire Dales
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 148299
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 27% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 3% | — | — |
| SEN support | 10% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: EAST MIDLANDS EDUCATION TRUST
1,298 pupils · 1,394 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
08 January 2025
Ungraded inspection
Standards maintained
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,107 pupils
Attendance
92.9%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
14.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.4%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 45.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.05 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 48% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 71% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.03 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.86 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 47 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 43.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 68.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 40.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 202 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.23 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 18.8% | 17% |
| A-level students | 106 | — |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 10419: Highfields School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 74% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 6% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 75% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.