Noel-Baker Academy Review 2026: A community secondary focused on confidence and culture change

A school can be defined by its turning points. Here, the clearest one is the shift from special measures to a settled, Good-rated academy, with a strong emphasis on behaviour, safety, and pupils believing they can succeed. The February 2022 Ofsted inspection rated Noel-Baker Academy Good across all areas, describing a school that pupils are proud to attend and where learning is not routinely disrupted.

Leadership messaging is unusually explicit about confidence and aspiration, including the values framework shared with L.E.A.D. Academy Trust and the school’s own line on entitlement and striving for extraordinary. The current headteacher, Kate Richardson, was announced by the academy as stepping into her first headship after a period as acting head of school and previously serving as deputy headteacher.

This is an 11 to 16 secondary with no sixth form and a published admission number of 280 for September 2026 entry. For families weighing options in Derby, the practical question is fit: a school working hard on consistency, attendance, and outcomes, while offering a credible enrichment programme that includes trips and structured co-curricular provision.

The school’s public language is direct about pupils’ self-belief. You see it in the way leadership talks about confidence, resilience and ambition, and in the recurring message that pupils are entitled to breadth and depth rather than a narrowed experience. That framing matters for a community secondary serving a diverse area, because it sets expectations for behaviour, effort, and participation in activities that some pupils may not access outside school.

Day-to-day culture is strongly shaped by the focus on routines and conduct. The most recent graded inspection describes behaviour as exemplary, with high expectations set by staff and pupils living up to them. In practice, that tends to show up as calmer corridors, clearer classroom norms, and fewer low-level disruptions, which is particularly important in a school trying to improve academic outcomes alongside wellbeing.

Pastoral messaging is also prominent. The school uses the phrase “You matter, we care” as a shorthand for its approach, and external review evidence aligns with that emphasis on pupils feeling listened to and able to raise concerns. For parents, the key implication is that the school wants families to see safety and trusted adults as central, not an add-on.

GCSE outcomes and rankings in this review use FindMySchool proprietary rankings based on official data, and must be read alongside the school’s improvement journey.

On the FindMySchool measure for GCSE outcomes, Noel-Baker Academy is ranked 3,481st in England and 16th in Derby, placing it below England average overall (within the bottom 40% on this measure).

The current GCSE picture points to two headline signals for parents:

• Progress 8: -0.84, which indicates pupils, on average, make substantially less progress than similar pupils nationally across eight subjects.

• Attainment 8: 35.2, a broad measure of average achievement across a pupil’s best eight GCSE slots.

• EBacc average point score: 3.03, with 5.8% achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc measure included.

Those numbers suggest the academic challenge is not simply about raw ability, but about consistency: attendance, curriculum implementation, reading fluency, and ensuring every subject area delivers the intended sequence effectively. The most recent graded inspection supports that interpretation, identifying inconsistency in curriculum implementation in a small number of subjects and pointing to attendance as an ongoing priority.

Curriculum intent is described as ambitious, with deliberate thinking about what pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, should know and be able to do. The practical implication for families is that the school is trying to ensure pupils leave Year 11 with a curriculum experience that keeps doors open, not one that is quietly restricted.

Reading is treated as a key lever. External review evidence describes leaders identifying pupils who have fallen behind in reading and putting support in place to build speed and fluency, and it references structured reading activity within the school day. For pupils who arrive in Year 7 with weaker literacy, this focus can make the difference between coping across subjects and struggling everywhere, because reading demand is embedded in science, humanities, and examinations.

There is also an explicit academic breadth signal in the inspection evidence: pupils use Latin knowledge to support learning in other subjects, and the school teaches Latin to all pupils in key stage 3, according to leadership communication. For some families, that will be a strong match, particularly for pupils who respond well to structured vocabulary learning and clear knowledge-building.

As an 11 to 16 school, the key destination focus is post-16 transition rather than university pipelines. The strongest evidence base here is about preparation: effective careers guidance, exposure to education and training options, and a push to help pupils think beyond local horizons. External review evidence describes careers guidance as effective and notes that pupils receive information about a broad range of education and training routes (including technical pathways) in line with statutory expectations.

For families, the practical question is how well the school supports pupils who are undecided at 14 to 16. A school that builds confidence, maintains strong behaviour norms, and keeps pupils engaged in enrichment tends to create better conditions for making a successful move to sixth form college, apprenticeships, or training. The co-curricular programme and trips are relevant here, because they can widen pupils’ reference points and strengthen attendance and belonging for pupils who are not naturally academic.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through the local authority process used in Derby, with clear published dates for the 2026 to 2027 intake. Applications for transfer from Year 6 to secondary open in mid-September 2025, with the closing date for the Common Application Form on 31 October 2025.

For September 2026 entry, the academy’s published admission number is 280. The determined admissions policy also makes it clear that applications made after the deadline are treated differently in priority terms, so families who want to keep this option live should treat the October deadline as non-negotiable.

Families considering a move into the area should be aware that the last offered distance figure is not available for this school, so you cannot safely judge chances by proximity alone from this review. A sensible approach is to use FindMySchool’s Map Search tool to understand your exact distance and then compare it with the most recent local authority allocations information when it is released for your intake year.

For appeals, local authority documentation and the school’s admissions page both reference a national offer date of Monday 2 March 2026, with an appeals closing date for Noel-Baker Academy of Monday 13 April 2026 in the published timetable for 2026 to 2027.

Pastoral care at Noel-Baker is described as a strategic priority, not simply a safeguarding baseline. The school presents a clear message about support and reporting concerns, and external review evidence points to pupils having trusted adults and staff responding swiftly when issues occur. Ofsted confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Bullying handling matters most in how quickly it is addressed and how confidently pupils feel they can report it. The most recent graded inspection describes pupils saying that worries, including bullying, can be raised with staff and dealt with quickly, which suggests systems that pupils recognise and use.

One further point that parents should take seriously is attendance. Attendance is explicitly identified in the latest graded inspection as an area needing improvement for some groups, and it is hard to sustain GCSE improvement without strong day-to-day attendance. For families, the implication is to ask specific questions at open events about attendance support, monitoring, and how the school works with parents when patterns begin to slip.

Noel-Baker’s enrichment offer is more concrete than many schools’ marketing language, with both a standing co-curricular programme and examples of recent trips. The school’s own co-curricular page references opportunities after school and lists trips that include Austria skiing, a British Council visit to Le Havre, Jamie’s Farm residential experiences, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, PGL adventures at Caythorpe, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Cadbury World, and theatre trips.

That range matters because it signals an intent to make enrichment part of normal school life, not a once-a-year reward for a small group. For pupils who need motivation and belonging to attend well, a reliable programme of clubs and trips can be the difference between drifting and engaging.

The school also publishes club timetables that show specific, named options rather than generic categories. Recent published examples include STEM Club, Drama Club, Duke of Edinburgh, Pokémon Club, Key Stage 4 Art Club, Geography self-study, Book Club, Homework Club, Music Club, Choir, and an upbeat dance option referenced through PE enrichment.

Transition into Year 7 is treated as a structured process. The school describes offering three full days of transition, with an example schedule in early July, built around tutor time, taster lessons, and induction into routines. For anxious pupils, that structure can reduce the fear-factor and help them start Year 7 with at least some social and organisational footing.

The compulsory school day runs from 8.30am to 3.05pm, with the school also publishing the total weekly compulsory time figure. After-school activities sit outside that window through the co-curricular programme.

The school does not publish a single, definitive transport summary in the sources used for this review, so parents should check current local authority travel options and ask the school directly about safe drop-off expectations and any recommended walking routes. Term dates and INSET patterns are published on the school website for planning purposes.

• GCSE progress remains a challenge. A Progress 8 score of -0.84 suggests pupils are, on average, making significantly less progress than similar pupils nationally across their GCSE suite. Families should ask how the school targets support by subject and year group, and what has changed since the most recent published data.

• Attendance is a stated priority. External review evidence highlights attendance as an improvement focus for some groups. If your child has a history of anxiety-based absence or irregular attendance, ask detailed questions about early intervention and pastoral capacity.

• No sixth form. Post-16 progression planning matters earlier when pupils will leave at 16. Ensure the careers programme and guidance are a strong match for your child’s intended pathway, whether that is sixth form college, apprenticeships, or training routes.

• Deadlines matter for Year 7 entry. The published local authority timeline sets 31 October 2025 as the closing date for applications for 2026 to 2027 transfer. Late applications sit in a different priority position, which can materially affect outcomes.

Noel-Baker Academy is best understood as a school that has stabilised behaviour and safety, and is now trying to convert that culture change into stronger outcomes and better attendance. The most recent graded inspection presents a positive picture of day-to-day conduct and pupils’ confidence in raising concerns, while the current dataset shows the academic work still to do at GCSE.

Who it suits: local families looking for a structured 11 to 16 secondary with a clear values framework, a visible enrichment offer, and a strong emphasis on routines, confidence, and belonging. The key decision point is whether the school’s improvement trajectory and support systems match your child’s needs, particularly around attendance and GCSE progress.