Local authority · Yorkshire and the Humber
Barnsley has 12 secondary schools in this dataset. 3 have a religious character; 2 have a sixth form.
The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.37 (below average) — 0.36 of a grade per subject below the national median of -0.01. That is the middle of the 11 schools in this area with a published score.
The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -3.15 to +0.43. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.
For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.94 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 4 of the 11 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.
Overall absence runs at 10.5% for the typical school here, above the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.
Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.
| School | Progress 8 | 95% interval | Attainment 8 | Pressure | Ofsted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penistone Grammar SchoolCommunity school | +0.43above average | +0.17 to +0.492023–24 | 57.1 | 1.01× | Good (ungraded) |
| 2 | Darton AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.37above average | +0.19 to +0.552023–24 | 49.9 | 0.94× | Good |
| 3 | Horizon Community CollegeAcademy converter | +0.19average | -0.21 to +0.072023–24 | 48.7 | 0.90× | Good (Improving) (ungraded) |
| 4 | Kirk Balk AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.04average | -0.30 to +0.052023–24 | 49.4 | 0.93× | Good |
| 5 | Outwood Academy CarltonAcademy sponsor led | -0.20average | -0.44 to -0.072023–24 | 41.6 | 0.96× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 6 | Barnsley AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.37below average | -0.61 to -0.172023–24 | 41.9 | 0.82× | Good |
| 7 | Outwood Academy ShaftonAcademy sponsor led | -0.49below average | -0.61 to -0.262023–24 | 41.1 | 1.08× | Good (Concerns) (ungraded) |
| 8 | Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.52well below average | -0.98 to -0.492023–24 | 38.0 | 1.06× | — |
| 9 | Netherwood AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.54well below average | -0.59 to -0.232023–24 | 41.4 | 0.84× | Good |
| 10 | Astrea Academy DearneAcademy converter | -0.68well below average | -0.86 to -0.482023–24 | 38.5 | 0.77× | Good |
| 11 | Barnsley CollegeFurther education | -3.15well below average | -3.50 to -2.892023–24 | 6.1 | — | — |
1 of the 10 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Penistone Grammar School's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 2 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.
These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.
| Trinity Academy St. Edwards | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
|---|
The most sought-after school in Barnsley for 2026 entry was Trinity Academy St. Edwards at 1.45 first preferences per place — 253 families named it first for 174 places.
Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.
See Barnsley on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.
The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.
Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in Barnsley you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.