The Duchess's Community High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Northumberland
Taylor Drive, Alnwick, NE66 2DH
–
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Requires improvement
Graded 19/10/2021
Application demand
98%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
90.1%
29.3% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,276
Capacity used
Has space77%
1,651 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
98%
1st preference success rate
167 of 170 families who put it first got an offer
167
Places offered
171
Total applications
1.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 170 | 167 | ● 98% |
| 2nd preference | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 0 | 0 | — |
| Total | 171 | 167 | 98% |
1st preference success by year
Northumberland lets families list 3 preferences. 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
- James Wilson
- Address
- Taylor Drive, Alnwick, NE66 2DH
- Phone
- 01665602166
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Ward / constituency
- Alnwick Castle · North Northumberland
- Area
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 150196
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 18% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 2% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: PELE TRUST
1,276 pupils · 1,651 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 21
19 October 2021
Full graded inspection
Requires improvement overall effectivenessSixth form Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,128 pupils
Attendance
90.1%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.9%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
29.3%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.5%
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 over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 43.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 37.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 62.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 15% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.62 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 253 | — |
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 | 31.81 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 14.3% | 17% |
| A-level students | 84 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 248 | 17% | 46% | 72% | |
| English Language | 248 | 15% | 40% | 58% | |
| English Literature | 241 | 15% | 49% | 68% | |
| Combined Science | 175 | 9% | 30% | 51% | |
| Geography | 157 | 17% | 45% | 56% | |
| Art and Design | 100 | 33% | 64% | 82% | |
| Business | 83 | 8% | 42% | 58% | |
| History | 73 | 18% | 44% | 62% | |
| Biology | 67 | 28% | 57% | 75% | |
| Physics | 66 | 29% | 52% | 68% | |
| Chemistry | 64 | 28% | 58% | 70% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 57 | 16% | 42% | 54% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | 28 | 0% | 18% | 39% | |
| Mathematics | 25 | 8% | 36% | 52% | |
| Biology | 18 | 0% | 22% | 44% | |
| Business Studies | 18 | 0% | 0% | 22% | |
| Psychology | 15 | 0% | 7% | 33% | |
| English Literature | 13 | 8% | 38% | 46% | |
| Physics | 9 | 22% | 33% | 67% | |
| Classical Civilisation | 9 | 11% | 22% | 56% | |
| History | 8 | 0% | 0% | 13% | |
| Chemistry | 8 | 13% | 13% | 63% | |
| Photography | 8 | 0% | 0% | 38% | |
| Computer Science | 8 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #147 of 1,030 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 12395: The Duchess's Community High School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 7 |
| 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.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Northumberland council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
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.