Code: E06000015
Director of Children's Services: Andy Smith


Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Derby’s local authority children’s services

These inspections focus on the effectiveness of local authority services and arrangements:

  • to help and protect children, and enable families to stay together and get the help they need
  • the experiences and progress of children in care wherever they live, including those children who return home
  • the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after, in stable, loving homes, including adoption
  • the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Inspection type Inspection start date Overall effectiveness Impact of leaders Help and protection Children in care Care leavers
ILACS Short Inspection 19 May 2025 Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Derby Local Area Partnership

The purpose of an area SEND inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Inspection outcome

Derby local area partnership has not yet been inspected under the current Area SEND framework.

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Derby local authority

The agencies for these inspections can include the police, children’s social care, probation services, education and relevant health services. Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and childcare providers. The focus of these inspections is how effectively the local safeguarding partners work together at the practice and strategic levels.

Theme Inspection start date Link
There have been no JTAI inspections for this local authority.

Data source

Ofsted inspection reports and tools


Local authority context

Population 18 and under Number %
Derby 65,505 23.9%
National 12,869,368 22.0%

Data source

Children looked after Number Rate per 10,000
Derby 545 88
National 81,770 67

Data source

School-age pupils eligible for free school meals Number %
Derby 15,636 36.6%
National 2,085,168 26.7%

Data source

School-age pupils eligible for extra funding (pupil premium) Number %
Derby 16,548 39.3%
National 2,266,608 29.3%

Data source

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in state-funded settings Number %
Derby 9,497 19.9%
National 1,766,924 19.6%

Data source

School-age pupils with English as an additional language Number %
Derby 13,877 29.9%
National 1,806,029 21.4%

Data source

% of children in income-deprived families (IDACI) Average %
Derby 46.0%
National 38.0%
Health Index (children and young people) Health Index score
Derby 90.4
National 100.8
More details about the health index metric

Indicates the health of an area measured in three domains: Healthy People, Health Lives and Healthy Places.

A score of 100 represents health in England in 2015. A higher number means better health and a lower number means worse health.

Data source

Remit overview

Contents

Early years

Population Number in Derby % in Derby % National
Aged 0 to 5 years 19,200 7.0% 6.4%
Aged 0 2,952 1.1% 1.0%
Aged 1 3,070 1.1% 1.0%
Aged 2 3,228 1.2% 1.1%
Aged 3 3,230 1.2% 1.1%
Aged 4 3,247 1.2% 1.1%
Aged 5 3,473 1.3% 1.1%

Data source

Disadvantaged Number in Derby % in Derby % National
Early years pupil premium 949 4.9% 3.3%
Children looked after (under 1 year) 20 0.7% 0.6%
Children looked after (1 to 4 years) 78 0.6% 0.4%

Data sources:

Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) /
Education, health and care plans (EHCP)
Number in Derby % in Derby % National
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 2 and under) 59 0.6% 0.3%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 3) 208 6.4% 3.7%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 4) 402 12.4% 9.4%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5) 499 14.4% 12.1%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 1,168 6.1% 4.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 2 and under) 3 0.0% 0.0%
Children with an EHCP (age 3) 14 0.4% 0.7%
Children with an EHCP (age 4) 123 3.8% 3.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 5) 160 4.6% 4.7%
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 300 1.6% 1.6%

Data sources:

Funded early years places for 2-year-olds Population aged 2-years-old Number of eligible 2-year-olds % of population aged 2 % take-up of funded places
Derby 3,228 896 27.8% 72.3%
National 630,059 145,824 23.1% 65.2%

Data source

Funded early years places for 3-year-olds Population aged 3-years-old Number of eligible 3-year-olds % of population aged 3 % take-up of funded places
Derby 3,230 All 3-year olds are eligible 96.6%
National 625,948 90.6%
The 2 and 3-year-old funded places tables look different because they measure different things; funded places for 2-year-olds are only for children considered to be disadvantaged, while for 3-year-olds everyone is entitled to a funded place.

Data source

Children's overweight and obesity Number in Derby % in Derby % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 725 24.7% 23.5%

Data source

Oral health Number examined in Derby % examined in Derby % in Derby % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 359 11.2% 27.3% 22.4%

Schools

Population Number in Derby % in Derby1 % National1
Primary-age pupils (ages 5 to 11) 24,730 9.0% 8.2%
Secondary-age pupils (ages 12 to 16) 18,196 6.6% 6.2%

Data source

Population of looked-after-children Number in Derby % in Derby1 % National1
Ages 5 to 9 101 0.6% 0.4%
Ages 10 to 15 196 0.9% 0.7%

Data source

Pupils eligible for free schools meals Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 8,871 37.5% 25.3%
Secondary 6,238 34.6% 27.5%
Alternative provision 47 60.3% 64.6%
Special 448 54.4% 49.5%
Non-maintained special 30 39.5% 31.0%

Data source

Pupils eligible for pupil premium Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 8,698 36.9% 25.1%
Secondary 6,968 37.7% 28.9%

Data source

Pupils with SEND Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 4,778 19.3% 18.2%
Secondary 3,263 16.3% 16.5%
Alternative provision 77 98.7% 83.4%
Special 941 100.0% 99.9%
Non-maintained special 110 100.0% 99.7%
Independent schools 218 17.5% 24.1%

Data source

Pupils with English as an additional language Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 8,884 36.0% 23.4%
Secondary 4,498 22.4% 19.2%
Alternative provision 13 16.7% 7.6%
Special 191 20.3% 14.5%
Non-maintained special 99 90.0% 11.0%
Attendance of all pupils up to week 4 of calendar year % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 95.1% 95.0%
Secondary 91.6% 91.8%
Special 86.7% 87.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals (summer term 2024/25) % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 92.4% 91.9%
Secondary 86.6% 85.2%
Special 84.4% 85.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils with SEND (summer term 2024/25) % in Derby2 % National2
Primary 92.2% 92.1%
Secondary 84.4% 84.3%
Special 86.1% 87.3%

Data source

Primary attainment: Year 1 phonics screening pass Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
All pupils 2,477 76.5% 79.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 746 66.8% 66.6%
Pupils with SEND 301 46.2% 43.4%
Pupils with English as an additional language 897 76.9% 79.5%
Primary attainment: Year 4 times table check (full marks) Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
All pupils 1,253 35.8% 36.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 423 29.3% 27.4%
Pupils with SEND 95 13.9% 16.5%
Pupils with English as an additional language 526 42.8% 45.2%

Data source

Primary attainment: Key stage 2 reading, writing, maths combined (met the expected standard) Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
All pupils 1,999 56.5% 62.6%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 648 42.6% 47.7%
Pupils with SEND 161 21.3% 23.8%
Pupils with English as an additional language 681 55.4% 66.2%

Data source

Secondary attainment: Attainment 8 Average in Derby2 National average2
All pupils 42.2 45.9
Pupils eligible for free school meals 32.0 35.0
Pupils with SEND 24.4 28.1

Data source

Population receiving education outside of their local authority Number outside of Derby % outside of Derby2 % National2
Primary 720 3.2% 4.1%
Secondary 823 4.8% 8.7%
Special 134 15.3% 9.0%
Children being home educated Number in Derby % in Derby1 % National1
Primary 190 0.8% 0.8%
Secondary 520 2.9% 2.5%
Total 720 1.7% 1.5%
More details about the children being home educated numbers
Local authority data in the source dataset has been rounded to the nearest 10. As a result totals may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Data source

Suspensions (from primary school) Number in Derby Rate per 100 pupils in Derby3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 119 0.5 0.9
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 81 0.3 0.5
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 54 0.6 (in group) 1.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 70 1.6 (in group) 2.4 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded primary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from secondary school) Number in Derby Rate per 100 pupils in Derby3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 1,142 5.7 7.8
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 694 3.5 3.8
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 467 7.2 (in group) 8.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 273 8.6 (in group) 9.1 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded secondary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from special school) Number in Derby Rate per 100 pupils in Derby3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 32 3.1 5.1
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 26 2.5 2.9
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 15 2.8 (in group) 4.1 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 26 2.5 (in group) 2.9 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded special schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Exclusions (from primary school) Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.1%

Data source

Exclusions (from secondary school) Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 17 0.1% 0.1%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 12 0.2% 0.2%
Pupils with SEND 8 0.3% 0.3%

Data source

Exclusions (from special school) Number in Derby % in Derby2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.0%

1. % of all children in Derby / England.

2. % of all pupils in state-funded settings across Derby / England.

3. Rate per 100 pupils in state-funded settings across Derby / England.

Further education and skills

Population Number in Derby % in Derby % National
Aged 16 to 18 years 10,549 3.8% 3.6%
Aged 19 to 21 years 11,380 4.2% 3.6%
Aged 22 to 24 years 10,621 3.9% 3.6%
Aged 25 years and over 186,643 68.1% 70.8%

Data source

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Number in Derby % in Derby % National
16- to 17-year-olds known to LA 7,034 2.6% 2.4%
NEET 536 7.6% 3.4%
Activity not known 20 0.3% 2.2%
Total NEET or activity not known 557 7.9% 5.6%

Data source

16 to 18 progression to higher education or training % in Derby % National
Degrees (all) 60.0% 66.0%
Degrees at top third higher education institutions 18.0% 24.0%
Higher apprenticeships 3.0% 2.0%
Other study at level 4 and 5 4.0% 3.0%
Progressing to higher education or training 67.0% 70.0%
More details about the further education and skills destinations data

This data reflects the destinations of pupils based on the number on roll when they were aged 16 to 18, tracking where they progressed after completing their studies.

Degree destinations include any study at level 6 or higher such as bachelor degrees, graduate diplomas, and post-graduate degrees. The top third higher education institutions when ranked by average UCAS tariff score of entrants across their best 3 A levels.

Higher apprenticeships are those from level 4 to 7 and are equivalent to a foundation degree and above. Degree apprenticeships are available at levels 6 and 7.

Other study at level 4 or 5 destinations include those students studying qualifications such as foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).

Data source

Social care

Explore the findings from Ofsted's local authority inspections.

Explore population characteristics for this local authority.