Denbigh School
Secondary · Milton Keynes · MK5 6EX
Data updated
Last grade Ofsted published, no newer grade exists
Ofsted graded this school Good in 2019. Every inspection since has been ungraded, and an ungraded inspection cannot change a grade. The most recent found “Standards maintained”. Ofsted's current data file lists only graded inspections from September 2019 onwards, so this grade has dropped out of it, but it is still the school's grade of record, and still on Ofsted's own report page. It is old, so weigh it against the more recent evidence on this page.
Inspected 15 January 2019
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,778 pupils · 105% of 1,700 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy converter
- Age range
- 11–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 15% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 22% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 9% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 1.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Website
- http://www.denbigh.net
- URN
- 136468
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 327 families named it first for 257 Year 7 places, 1.27 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2024 entry went to 1.241 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 4 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2023 to 2026. The last grade Ofsted published for it is Good, from 2019. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 5.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
1.27 first-choice applications per place257 places offered · 327 first-choice applications · oversubscribed
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 1.241 miles for 2024 entry.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2024 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 1.241 miles
measurement method not stated by the council.
Cutoff by admission criterion (2026 entry)
- Criterion 4 (Pupils who do not satisfy any of the criteria in 1-3 but who have a sibling at the school at the time of application)
- 1.45 miles
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Milton Keynes school admissions · the wider Milton Keynes authority
GCSE results (2024/2025)
266 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
A-level results (2024/2025)
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.
They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Goffs Academy | 49.1 | |
| Higham Lane School | 52.3 | |
| Shenley Brook End School | 45.4 | |
| Canon Slade School | 53.9 | |
| Watling Academy | 50.4 | |
| De Lisle College Loughborough Leicestershire | 55.1 | |
| Cheam High School | 50.7 | |
| Bosworth Academy | 48.6 | |
| Caroline Chisholm School | 50.4 | |
| Sir Christopher Hatton Academy | 50.2 | |
| Allerton Grange School | 48.2 | |
| Carlton le Willows Academy | 55.1 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 32% (Milton Keynes 43%, England 59%) · Asian Indian 16% (Milton Keynes 6%, England 4%) · Any other Asian background 11% (Milton Keynes 5%, England 3%) · Any other White background 10% (Milton Keynes 9%, England 7%) · Black African 8% (Milton Keynes 13%, England 5%) · Asian Pakistani 6% (Milton Keynes 4%, England 5%) · Asian Chinese 4% (Milton Keynes 3%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Milton Keynes 4%, England 3%) · Any other Black background 2% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 1%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Milton Keynes 1%, England 2%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Milton Keynes 1%, England 1%) · Not recorded 1% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Milton Keynes 2%, England 2%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
3.87 suspensions per 100 pupils and 1 permanent exclusion · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Milton Keynes: 22.03 suspensions and 0.02 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
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Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
86% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 12% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
81% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.8 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £52,479; 8% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 76% (77%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (6%) · supplies and services 12% (11%) · educational supplies 8% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (1%) · catering 0% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve -£436,000; in-year balance -£888,000
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Where students go after sixth form
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 26 November 2024: Standards maintained
- 15 January 2019: Good
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 7/10less deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 6/10around the middle for England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 38.4% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 14.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 39.1% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 16.4% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 50.5% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 62.6% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 13.9% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 23.5% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 34.1% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 13.6% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 24.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 15.5% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01016778 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £395,000249 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £293,000–£580,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 1an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 1an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 10an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 3an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted