Handsworth Grange Community Sports College

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College is a secondary academy within the Minerva Learning Trust. Following a period of instability, the school has significantly improved behaviour: lessons are calm, social times are settled, and most pupils feel safe and happy. Behaviour and attitudes and personal development are judged good, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school also offers a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including for disadvantaged pupils, and its careers and PSHE provision prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. The school has raised expectations and revised the curriculum, including for pupils with SEND, but implementation is inconsistent. Teaching does not routinely check that pupils have understood and remembered key content before moving on, and a significant number of pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not achieve highly in external tests and assessments. Approaches to reading for pleasure, literacy and vocabulary are not yet firmly embedded, and some pupils have a weak understanding of important vocabulary. Attendance is improving overall, but not for some groups, especially pupils eligible for pupil premium and pupils with SEND; the revised attendance strategy is too new for its full impact to be established. Leaders, governors and trustees understand the school’s strengths and development needs, but improvement priorities are not sharply focused enough. Staff report that leaders consider workload and well-being, and many parents now speak more positively about the school.

Strengths

• Behaviour has improved significantly and is managed consistently
• Lessons are calm and most pupils behave respectfully
• Pupils feel safe and happy and most enjoy coming to school
• Social times are settled with more staff on duty
• The school offers a wide range of enrichment opportunities
• Disadvantaged pupils regularly take advantage of enrichment activities
• The curriculum has been revised to raise expectations, including for pupils with SEND
• Teachers in many subjects build new learning on prior knowledge
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported consistently
• Weakest readers are helped to build confidence and fluency
• PSHE prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
• Careers education and guidance are well considered
• Staff say leaders consider their workload and well-being
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent across subjects
• Teaching does not routinely check that pupils have understood before moving on
• Some pupils do not secure important knowledge and skills before new content
• A significant number of pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, do not achieve highly
• Reading for pleasure and literacy approaches are in the early stages
• Approaches to teaching vocabulary are not used consistently
• Some pupils have a weak understanding of important vocabulary
• Attendance remains weaker for some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• The revised attendance strategy is too new to show full impact
• Improvement priorities for the quality of education are not sharply focused

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 Handsworth Grange Community Sports College attended 89.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.1% 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, 12.9% of pupils at Handsworth Grange Community Sports College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Handsworth Grange Community Sports College had 15.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.4% 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, 17.2% of pupils at Handsworth Grange Community Sports College 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 Handsworth Grange Community Sports College received £8,152 and spent £8,699 for each of its 996 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £325,000 (£326 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Minerva Learning Trust, income was £7,480 and spending £7,772 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 Sheffield · Sheffield local authority: places and applications

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College is part of Minerva Learning Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Woodthorpe Primary School Sheffield
• High Storrs School Sheffield
• Barrow Hill Primary Academy Chesterfield
• Chapeltown Academy Sheffield
• Ecclesfield School Sheffield
• Netherthorpe School Chesterfield
• Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy Chesterfield
• Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy Chesterfield
• Stocksbridge High School Sheffield

What is Handsworth Grange Community Sports College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Handsworth Grange Community Sports College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Handsworth Grange Community Sports College last inspected by Ofsted?

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Handsworth Grange Community Sports College have?

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College has 989 pupils on roll.

What age range does Handsworth Grange Community Sports College cover?

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Handsworth Grange Community Sports College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.6, and 33% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Handsworth Grange Community Sports College?

Handsworth Grange Community Sports College is at Handsworth Grange Road, Handsworth, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S13 9HJ.