Chapel-en-le-Frith High School, High Peak

In its own words: "Our school is an 11-16 mixed, community, comprehensive school of around 950 students. We are lucky to be based in a relatively new building, with great facilities, on a beautiful site at the edge of the Peak District market town of Chapel-en-le-Frith. The Peak District National Park is quite literally on the school’s doorstep."

From the headteacher's welcome: "We were delighted to welcome our new Year 7 students to Chapel High as they began the next exciting stage of their education. It has been wonderful to see how quickly our newest students have settled into school life. They have been getting to know their tutor groups, making new friendships and exploring the wide range of subjects on offer."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include drama, STEM, art, knitting, Duke of Edinburgh, Spanish, philosophy and maths club.

In 2026, pupils at Chapel-en-le-Frith High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 48.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45.2 in Derbyshire and 47 across England.

48% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Derbyshire and 47% in England.

That is up from 43.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.34: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 40.8, against 51.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 10.7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

For September 2026 entry, 185 families put Chapel-en-le-Frith High School as their first choice and 296 named it as one of their preferences, for 158 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 27 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Chapel-en-le-Frith High School are St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy (3.9 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 42.1); New Mills School (4.5 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 48.5); and Buxton Community School (4.7 miles, Attainment 8 42.1).

Chapel-en-le-Frith High School's 2026 results were higher than all 3 of them.

227 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Chapel-en-le-Frith High School (as of September 2025): 89% would recommend the school, 90% say their child is happy there and 68% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (90%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (68%).

Of the 184 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 86% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 41% to a further education college, 5% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

1.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 64 pupils (6.8%) received SEN support and 92 (9.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

Chapel-en-le-Frith High School has a resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs, autism, physical disability and moderate learning difficulties: 50 places, 52 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Chapel-en-le-Frith Rail Station, about 740 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

7 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is High School Bus Park (adjacent), 60 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 31 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and weapons possession. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Derbyshire (50).

In 2024/25, Chapel-en-le-Frith High School issued 95 suspensions, 10.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Chapel-en-le-Frith High School are Chapel-en-le-Frith CofE VC Primary School (0.7 miles), Combs Infant School (1.3 miles) and Chinley Primary School (1.4 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.