SF School Facts UK

All-through school in Peterborough

Thomas Deacon Academy

Queen's Gardens, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 2UW

Sixth form
School website 01733426060

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 12 November 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

39.1 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

32% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

53% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.1 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

6% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.02confidence interval -0.18 to 0.14

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C-
Average points per entry
26.2

England average 32.3

A level students
149

Pupils

Pupils on roll
2256
Places
2560
How full
88% full — 2256 of 2560 places taken
Girls / boys
1100 / 1156
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
27%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
38%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
40%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
8%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
90%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
49%
No sustained destination
6%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
330

After sixth form

Went to university
64%

England 50%

In education, work or training
86%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
145

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

12% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
78%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
163

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Peterborough 012E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
20%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
31%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
35%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
18%

England 17%

Households with no car
40%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
39%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
All-through
Ages
Ages 7–19
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
THOMAS DEACON EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: Emily Gaunt
Local authority
Peterborough
Ward
Park
Constituency
Peterborough
URN
135263

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest all-through schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Greater Peterborough UTCUniversity technical college Good 2022 38.2 0.2 mi
The King's (The Cathedral) SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 63.2 0.4 mi
City of Peterborough AcademyFree schools Good 2024 39.3 0.7 mi
St John Fisher Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 0.7 mi
The Peterborough SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.4 mi
Manor Drive Secondary AcademyFree schools No grade 1.5 mi
Jack Hunt AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 44.2 1.8 mi
Iqra AcademyOther independent school No grade 1.8 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded all-through schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Kingsbury High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 47.3
Cleeve Park SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 39.7
The Warren SchoolAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2024 47.6
Rugby Free Secondary SchoolFree schools No grade 43.7
The Whitehaven AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 39.7
Mark Hall AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.9
King Edward VI Lordswood School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2024 56.8
George Eliot AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 45.8

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.