The Deanery CofE Academy
Secondary · Swindon · SN1 7DA
Data updated
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Ofsted placed this school in a statutory category of concern, special measures, at the inspection of 12 September 2023. It stands until a later inspection lifts it.
Inspected 12 September 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
670 pupils · 64% of 1,050 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Free schools
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Anglican/Church of England
- Free school meals
- 25.2% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 32.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 11.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- www.dcea.org.uk
- URN
- 151305
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 46 families named it first for 104 Year 7 places, 0.44 first choices per place. We hold 4 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2023 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. Ofsted last graded it Inadequate on 12 September 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8.3% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
0.44 first-choice applications per place104 places offered · 46 first-choice applications · usually has places
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Swindon school admissions · the wider Swindon authority
GCSE results (2024/2025)
161 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.
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is in line with 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.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Specific Learning Difficulty
- Visual Impairment
- Speech, Language and Communication Needs
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Physical Disability
- Moderate Learning Difficulty
Provision type: SEN unit.
- SEN unit
- 12 of 60 places taken places may be available
Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 50% (Swindon 62%, England 59%) · Any other White background 10% (Swindon 8%, England 7%) · Black African 10% (Swindon 5%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 8% (Swindon 9%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 5% (Swindon 2%, England 3%) · Any other ethnic group 3% (Swindon 2%, England 3%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Swindon 4%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Swindon 1%, England 1%) · Not recorded 2% (Swindon 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Swindon 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Swindon 1%, England 2%) · Any other Black background 1% (Swindon 1%, England 1%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Swindon 1%, England 2%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Swindon 1%, England 5%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Swindon 0%, England 1%) · other groups together 1%
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)
50.78 suspensions per 100 pupils and 5 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Swindon: 34.36 suspensions and 0.26 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
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)
87% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% moved to another state school · 7% 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)
79.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 10.3 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 £57,704; 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 77% (77%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (6%) · supplies and services 10% (11%) · educational supplies 7% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (1%) · catering 2% (3%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £0; in-year balance -£492,000
Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 5/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 8/10less deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 33.5% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 15.1% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 40.3% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 13.3% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 49.4% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 81.4% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 10% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 8.3% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 34.7% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 9.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 36.4% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 11.1% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01015585 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £350,000376 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £237,000–£404,000the 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
- 0an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 1an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 7an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 1an 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