Heanor Gate Spencer Academy, Heanor

In 2026, pupils at Heanor Gate Spencer Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 43.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45.2 in Derbyshire and 47 across England.

43% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Derbyshire and 47% in England.

That is down from 49.6 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.14: 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 33.8, against 47.7 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 13.9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and History.

For September 2026 entry, 254 families put Heanor Gate Spencer Academy as their first choice and 450 named it as one of their preferences, for 260 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Heanor Gate Spencer Academy are Aldercar High School (1.6 miles, Attainment 8 38.3); John Flamsteed Community School (2.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.4); The Ripley Academy (2.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.9); and Hall Park Academy (2.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40.3).

Heanor Gate Spencer Academy's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Heanor Gate Spencer Academy is one of 27 schools run by The Spencer Academies Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49.9 in 2024/25.

Of the 217 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 80% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 30% to a further education college, 5% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

Of the 109 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 39% went on to university or other higher education, 10% to apprenticeships and 35% into work. 18% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

4.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 43 pupils (2.9%) received SEN support and 61 (4.1%) 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 a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest railway station is Langley Mill Rail Station, about 1.7 miles away in a straight line.

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Heanor Gate College (adjacent), 30 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Heanor Gate Spencer Academy stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 117 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Derbyshire (50), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Heanor Gate Spencer Academy issued 71 suspensions, 5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Heanor Gate Spencer Academy are Corfield CofE Infant School (0.4 miles), Howitt Primary Community School (0.5 miles), Coppice Primary School (0.7 miles) and Mundy CofE Junior School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.