The Macclesfield Academy

Not a school with a long settled record but a young one with something to prove, and it is proving some of it. The Macclesfield Academy opened as a Fresh Start academy on 1 December 2023, replacing a predecessor school of the same name on the same Park Lane site in Macclesfield. It is a mixed, non-selective 11-16 comprehensive of 639 students, run by The Sir John Brunner Foundation and led by headteacher Mat Galvin.

Two facts frame any decision. Students make above-average progress from their starting points (a Progress 8 score of +0.18), yet raw GCSE attainment still sits in the lower reaches of the England table. And the academy has not yet had an inspection of its own. What it offers in the meantime is a small-school feel, a knowledge-rich curriculum taught through a shared model called The TMA Way, a new weekly Enrichment Afternoon, and a direct progression link to Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College.

Known Valued Empowered runs the three-word strapline across the academy's website, and the school leans hard on the first of those words. Size is presented as the main selling point: with roughly 120 students in each year group, staff argue they can get to know each child quickly and make sure nobody is overlooked. For a family worried about a shy child disappearing in a 2,000-student secondary, that is the central offer.

Since the Fresh Start in December 2023, the academy has been building new traditions rather than inheriting them. In September 2025 it introduced a House system, placing every student and member of staff into one of four Houses named after Macclesfield mills: Adelphi, Clarence, Regency and Pickford. Students chose the names themselves, as a way to recognise the town's community and heritage. House Captains drawn from Year 10 now lead inter-House competitions and Sports Day, alongside four School Captains who head a wider student leadership team. In December 2025 the academy was accredited as a Parent Friendly School by the charity Parentkind, after introducing regular parent forums, feedback opportunities and transition programmes.

The school describes its building as modern, with wide, spacious corridors and strong sports facilities. A £1m DfE-funded roofing project by BBR Roofing, completed in 2024, updated the original roof, which was constructed in 2006. The Astro Pitch and Sports Hall are popular enough to be hired out to community groups, particularly youth football and netball teams.

There is a strong local streak too. When Macclesfield FC beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round in January 2026, the school celebrated the part its students had played beforehand: laying flowers at the ground in memory of the club's forward Ethan McLeod, and helping clear snow and ice from the Moss Rose pitch so the tie could go ahead.

Mat Galvin frames the academy's identity bluntly. Speaking after the August 2026 results, he said "being a kind, friendly and family-focused school is not an alternative to academic excellence. In fact, it is the foundation of it." Before its Fresh Start, the predecessor school (URN 137064) was judged Requires Improvement by Ofsted in February 2020. The current academy is a separate establishment, has no grade of its own yet, and should be judged on what it is doing now.

GCSE outcomes are where the picture is mixed, and parents deserve it straight. The Macclesfield Academy is ranked 3,519th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results, ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent. Both are proprietary FindMySchool rankings built from official data.

Attainment itself is modest. The average Attainment 8 score was 45.5 across a cohort of 120 students, and the average EBacc points score was 4.15.

Progress tells a different and more encouraging story. A Progress 8 score of +0.18 means students, on average, achieved slightly better GCSE grades than students across England who started secondary school with similar Key Stage 2 results. In other words, the academy is adding value, which suggests the lower raw grades partly reflect students' starting points. The headteacher points out that the headline results include every student with special educational needs, including those in the academy's Resourced Provision for autistic students.

The most recent results sound stronger again. In August 2026 the academy reported its best-ever Attainment 8 score, with Science achieving its best results in the school's history and strong outcomes highlighted in Drama, Geography, French, Art and Photography. Those 2026 figures are the school's own announcement; the rankings above reflect the published official data, so families should watch whether the improvement shows through when the next set of official results is released.

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Lessons follow The TMA Way, a shared teaching model built on clear explanations, high-quality questioning, deliberate practice and regular retrieval. The point is consistency. A student moving from maths to history should meet the same routines and the same expectation that they recall what was taught weeks earlier, a sensible approach for a mixed-ability intake.

The curriculum is explicitly knowledge-rich. It rests on four pillars (Ambition, Breadth, Knowledge and Quality), and every student receives an Essential Knowledge and Vocabulary (EKV) sheet for each unit in every subject, setting out exactly what should be learned. The school also publishes year-group curriculum overviews so parents can see what knowledge is taught, and in what order.

Key Stage 3 is broad. Alongside English, maths and science, students study history, geography, religious studies, both French and Spanish, computer science, music, drama, art, technology and PE (including dance), plus PSHE, Outdoor Education and careers guidance. Since 2024/25, all Key Stage 3 classes in all subjects have been taught in mixed-ability groups, a deliberate shift away from the previous banded model after the school looked at research from the Education Endowment Foundation.

At Key Stage 4, students take the core of GCSE Maths, English Language, English Literature and Science plus four option subjects. The academy recommends an academic pathway including at least one of Computer Science, a modern foreign language (French and/or Spanish), a humanity (History and/or Geography) or Triple Science, and the EBacc is offered to all. Other options include Business Studies GCSE, Design & Technology GCSE, Photography GCSE, Religious Studies GCSE and the Health & Social Care Technical Award, Hospitality & Catering Technical Award, iMedia Technical Award and Sport Technical Award. A Period 6 slot after school is used for intervention, booster sessions and extra English or maths tuition.

The academy is also an initial teacher education partner for the University of Manchester's PGCE Secondary programme, and works with the Maths Hubs Programme.

With no sixth form of its own, every student moves on at 16, so the post-16 route matters more here than at an 11-18 school. The academy's answer is its membership of The Sir John Brunner Foundation and the partnership with Sir John Deane's Sixth Form College that comes with it. As a Foundation partner school, it describes a clear 11-18 pathway, with guaranteed access to Sir John Deane's for students who meet the entry criteria.

That link is being used. The school says that this year over half of its Year 11 students will progress to Sir John Deane's, and in August 2026 it reported its highest-ever number of students heading there. For families who want a strong A-level sixth form without a selective 11-18 school, this is the most distinctive thing the academy offers.

Other students choose local sixth forms and colleges. The school's own post-16 guidance lists All Hallows Catholic College Sixth Form, Tytherington School Sixth Form, Eaton Bank Academy Sixth Form, The Fallibroome Academy Sixth Form, Macclesfield College and Reaseheath College, along with apprenticeships, T-Levels and employment of 20 or more hours a week. Students can apply to more than one college and make the final choice after GCSE results day in August.

Students have careers experiences from Year 7. Year 10 have taken part in mock interviews and have a work experience week, Year 11 families are invited to a Post-16 Information and Revision Evening, and a Class of 26 Careers Calendar sets out the year's milestones.

The academy's alumni page gives a flavour of where former students of the Park Lane school have gone. Ben Ward (Class of 2020) moved on to an Engineering Degree Apprenticeship with Siemens, working towards a BEng (Hons) in Automation and Control. Kaitlyn Akinpelumi (Class of 2015) has appeared in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Netflix's The School for Good and Evil. Hugo Beswick and Lowri Nettlemill (Class of 2023) took A levels at Sir John Deane's; Lowri is now reading History at Cambridge and Hugo Philosophy, Politics & Economics at Oxford. All four left before the Fresh Start, but they show the Sir John Deane's route working in practice.

Year 7 entry is the main route, with a planned admission number of 120. As an academy, the trust sets its own admission policy, but applications go through the family's home local authority on the common application form rather than to the school. For Cheshire East families, online applications for September 2027 entry opened on 1 September 2026, the closing date is 31 October 2026, and offers are made on 1 March 2027.

Demand is real but not extreme. For 2025 entry the academy received 227 applications for 119 offers, about 1.9 applications per place, so it is officially oversubscribed. The ratio of first-preference applications to first-preference offers was 1.01, which means first-choice demand only just exceeded the places given to families who ranked it first. Families who genuinely want the academy and put it first are in a reasonable position.

After children with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the academy, places are allocated in this order:

1. Looked-after and previously looked-after children, and children with particular medical or social reasons supported by professional evidence.
2. Children with a brother or sister at the academy.
3. Children of staff employed at The Sir John Brunner Foundation for two or more years, or recruited to a post with a demonstrable skill shortage.
4. Children attending one of the partner primary schools in the Macclesfield Academy Learning Community: Ash Grove, Gawsworth, Hollinhey, Ivy Bank, Parkroyal and Wincle.
5. All other children, by distance, using Cheshire East Council's methodology.

Within any criterion, the tie-break is straight-line distance from home to the school. In 2026, the last place offered went to a child living 8.056 miles away. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place. Unsuccessful applicants can join a reserve list run by Cheshire East for the first term, and parents have a statutory right of appeal.

The 2026 open evening took place on 17 September, and families who missed it can book a tour through the school.

Each day starts with 25 minutes of Personal Development Time, from 08:40 to 09:05, before the first lesson. Pastoral leadership is organised by year: for 2025-26 the team was led by Miss James (Year 7), Miss Brassington (Year 8), Ms Philbin (Years 9 and 10) and Mr Henry (Years 10 and 11), and new families are invited to a Y7 Known and Valued Evening.

Special educational needs support is clearly organised. The SEND team, led by SENCo Dr Julie Skarratt and Deputy SENCo Annie McDowell with learning support mentors, provides targeted help across cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, sensory and physical needs, and communication and interaction. The academy also runs a Resourced Provision, currently for 17 students, for young people with an EHCP and a primary diagnosis of autism. Students in the provision may follow an adapted curriculum, but the expectation is that they spend as much time as possible in mainstream classes. For a family of an autistic child who can manage mainstream lessons with a base to return to, this is worth a close look.

Wellbeing work draws on outside expertise: the academy lists the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and its Schools in Mind network, which shares expertise on mental health in schools, among its partners. The Friends of The Macclesfield Academy (FOTMA) has been raising money for an outdoor seating area in the East Yard.

Expectations are firm. Phones are kept in secure, lockable pouches during the school day across the trust. Arriving after 08:40 earns a 20-minute detention at 3.15pm that day, and forgetting PE kit leads to a detention too. Families who like clear rules will welcome this; those who prefer a looser regime should know it up front.

Enrichment is now built into the timetable. From September 2026, every Wednesday afternoon the normal curriculum pauses for the new Enrichment Afternoon, with activities running from football, dance, netball and rugby to board games, journalism, art and music. That matters more than it sounds: a clubs programme that sits inside the school day reaches the students who would never stay behind after 3.15pm.

Sport is the most developed pillar. Volleyball has grown fast, with over 70 students attending the club. The TMA rowing team trains every week and races at regattas, and trampolinists compete at local and regional level. Football and rugby run for girls and boys, netball is a school favourite, and inclusive options include pickleball, boccia and kurling. The girls' football squad, drawn from Years 9 and 10, reached the Macclesfield District Cup Final in May 2026, played at the Leasing.com Stadium, home of Macclesfield FC. GCSE Sport students climb each week at Substation in Macclesfield, while Teggs Nose is the setting for Outdoor Adventure Activities.

Performing arts have scale. The summer 2026 production of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory had a cast of over 150 students, with pupils from Ivy Bank and Park Royal primary schools joining the performances, and the previous year's show sold out. Drama is taught in a fully equipped drama studio, where students make extensive use of the lighting equipment. In music, extra-curricular groups include choirs, a School Rock Ensemble and GCSE booster sessions. Brass tuition has been reintroduced with Gareth Brown, and lessons on keyboard, woodwind, strings, guitar and voice are available through the Love Music Trust.

Science and adventure round things off. Science Club runs on Wednesdays from 3.15pm to 4pm for Years 7 to 10, where students work towards a CREST Award. Every student can take the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and two residentials give each year a shared experience: Year 7 go to the Conway Centre in Anglesey for a three-day residential with activities such as rock climbing, canoeing and raft building, and Year 9 spend three days at Brathay in the Lake District. Leadership roles, from School Captain to French Language Ambassador, give older students a further way to stand out.

The day runs from 08:40 to 15:15, with a morning break and a 35-minute lunch, and Period 6 sessions afterwards for students who are involved. As a state school there are no tuition fees; the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award costs about £190 per participant. The canteen serves hot and cold meals, with themed lunches such as British Food Fortnight and Taste of India. Uniform (a dark blue blazer with Academy tie and black V-neck jumper) comes from the sole stockist, Classworx in Macclesfield, and a second-hand uniform shop by the main reception opens on the final Friday of each month, 3pm to 4pm, on a pay-as-you-feel basis. The school does not publish bus routes, so families should check travel options with Cheshire East.

No inspection of its own yet. The academy has not been inspected since it opened on 1 December 2023, so there is no current official judgement to lean on. Families will need to form a view from results, visits and conversations with current parents.

Low attainment, positive progress. The school sits 3,519th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results, yet students make above-average progress from their starting points. If you are choosing mainly on headline grades this will give pause; if you care about how much a school adds, the picture is better.

Everyone moves at 16. There is no sixth form, so every student changes institution after Year 11. The guaranteed route into Sir John Deane's for those meeting its entry criteria softens this considerably, but the grades still have to be earned.

Firm routines and some costs. Lockable phone pouches, same-day detentions for lateness and missing kit, and a tight uniform code are part of daily life. Optional extras such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award carry a charge, though the school says it will create opportunities for students to raise money towards it over the year.

The Macclesfield Academy is a school in the middle of a rebuild, and the direction looks right. Progress 8 is above the England average, the teaching model is clear and consistent, the Wednesday Enrichment Afternoon puts clubs within reach of every student, and the trust link to Sir John Deane's gives a well-defined path to A levels. Named sport, drama and SEND provision give it more texture than its size would suggest.

It is best suited to local families who want a smaller, structured comprehensive where their child will be known, to autistic students who can benefit from the Resourced Provision, and to students aiming for Sir John Deane's at 16. The main caveat is evidence: raw GCSE attainment is still low in England terms, and there is no inspection of the current academy yet. Visit, ask about the 2026 results, and judge the trajectory for yourself.