Dixons Pennine Academy

School overview

Dixons Pennine Academy is a secondary school serving Stalybridge, Tameside, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. It has 574 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Dixons Pennine Academy 'Good'. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 35.8, well below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 3.1 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

13% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 34% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Dixons Pennine Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 74 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 83% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.1%. There are about 15.3 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 45% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.