Kirk Balk Academy

Kirk Balk Academy has shown significant improvement since its last inspection, moving from a previous grade of requires improvement to being rated as good across all areas of evaluation. The school benefits from a supportive leadership team that enforces a well-structured behaviour policy, resulting in a positive learning environment where pupils feel safe and are encouraged to excel. The ambitious curriculum designed for key stage 3 has proven effective, and teachers are dedicated to ensuring that pupils, including those with special educational needs and disadvantaged backgrounds, achieve well.

Strengths

• Pupils behave well and are consistently engaged in their learning.
• The curriculum is ambitious and challenging, fostering deep understanding.
• Effective support is provided for pupils with special educational needs.
• Teachers assess pupil understanding effectively and support knowledge retention.
• Pupils have access to a wide range of extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Some older pupils have gaps in their knowledge due to previous curriculum limitations.
• A small minority of pupils do not consistently follow the rules, leading to exclusions.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Kirk Balk Academy attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 15.9% of pupils at Kirk Balk Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 12 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Kirk Balk Academy had 21.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 18.9% of pupils at Kirk Balk Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Kirk Balk Academy received £8,457 and spent £8,052 for each of its 1,327 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,369,000 (£1,031 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Northern Education Trust, income was £8,462 and spending £8,166 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Barnsley · Barnsley local authority: places and applications

Kirk Balk Academy is part of Northern Education Trust, which runs 30 schools. The nearest others:

• Mount Pellon Primary Academy Halifax
• Abbey Park Academy Halifax
• Denton Community Academy Manchester
• Merlin Top Primary Academy Keighley
• Buile Hill Academy Salford
• Chesham Primary Academy Bury
• Hazlehurst Primary Academy Bury
• Kearsley Academy Bolton
• The Ferns Primary Academy Bolton
• Essa Academy Bolton

What is Kirk Balk Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kirk Balk Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Kirk Balk Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Kirk Balk Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Kirk Balk Academy have?

Kirk Balk Academy has 1,318 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kirk Balk Academy cover?

Kirk Balk Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Kirk Balk Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.4, and 54% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Kirk Balk Academy?

Kirk Balk Academy is at West Street, Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S74 9HX.