Stocksbridge High School

Stocksbridge High School requires significant improvement following a full inspection. Safeguarding is effective, and pupils feel safe. The school has notable strengths in its strengthened personal development curriculum, well-considered careers programme, inclusive enrichment offer and effective pastoral care. New leaders have quickly identified major weaknesses and brought greater stability, higher expectations and improved behaviour, but many recent changes are still at an early stage. However, pupils’ achievement is a serious concern. Outcomes have declined over time, and disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND achieve significantly less well than they should, with Progress 8 well below national. Attendance is the biggest barrier: overall absence and persistent absence are too high, especially for disadvantaged pupils, and leaders’ strategies have not yet had sufficient impact. Curriculum implementation is not fully embedded, gaps in foundational reading, writing and mathematics are not routinely addressed, and support for SEND and disadvantaged pupils is not consistently precise or effective. The school is part of Minerva Academy Trust and serves a community with above-average location deprivation. Leadership turbulence has affected improvement, but the current senior team and restructured governance are acting in pupils’ best interests and have begun to improve the school. The personal development curriculum and careers provision are well considered, though pupils’ knowledge of PSHE and tracking of enrichment are underdeveloped. Overall, the school is moving in the right direction but requires urgent action on achievement and attendance.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils who feel safe.
• Pupils learn to respect one another and report concerns confidently; bullying is rare.
• The personal, social, health and education curriculum has been significantly strengthened and goes beyond statutory requirements.
• The careers programme is very well considered, providing impartial guidance, work experience and mock interviews.
• Pupils move on to a range of successful destinations after school.
• The enrichment and clubs offer is carefully crafted, inclusive and increasingly popular.
• Leaders support disadvantaged pupils to access enrichment and wider opportunities.
• New leaders have rapidly identified significant weaknesses and brought greater stability.
• Governance has been restructured, with improving communication between the trust and local governors.
• Staff workload is more carefully managed, and professional learning is more precise.
• Behaviour incidents, truancy and bullying have reduced, and the climate for learning is beginning to improve.
• Disadvantaged pupils are better supported than in the past.
• Leaders skilfully support vulnerable pupils, including looked-after children and those in alternative provision.
• The curriculum is well considered and meets the needs of current pupils.
• Teaching is increasingly effective where staff model high-quality work and expectations.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, is significantly below what it should be.
• There has been a long-term decline in pupils' outcomes, with Progress 8 well below national.
• Too many disadvantaged pupils leave without the basic qualifications needed for later life.
• Attendance has declined significantly and persistent absence remains too high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders' attendance strategies have had limited impact so far.
• The curriculum is not fully embedded across the school.
• Gaps in pupils' foundational knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics are not routinely addressed.
• Staff do not guide pupils clearly enough on how to improve.
• Information about pupils' barriers to learning is not precise enough and is not shared effectively with staff.
• Strategies to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are not implemented consistently.
• Leaders' pupil premium strategy lacks precision and impact, and support is at an early stage.
• Governance has not always shown the strategic insight needed to secure sustained improvement.
• Pupils' knowledge of the personal development curriculum is underdeveloped.
• Tracking of participation in clubs and enrichment is at an early stage.
• Poor attitudes persist among a minority of pupils, and learning time can still be lost to poor behaviour.
• Pupils' conduct around school is weaker than in lessons.
• Teaching effectiveness varies, and many curriculum changes are new.

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 Stocksbridge High School attended 89.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.4% 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 Stocksbridge High School 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 Stocksbridge High School had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.2% 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, 14.2% of pupils at Stocksbridge High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.5% 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 Stocksbridge High School received £7,865 and spent £8,247 for each of its 795 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £227,000 (£286 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.

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

Stocksbridge High School is part of Minerva Learning Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Ecclesfield School Sheffield
• Chapeltown Academy Sheffield
• High Storrs School Sheffield
• Woodthorpe Primary School Sheffield
• Handsworth Grange Community Sports College Sheffield
• Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy Chesterfield
• Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy Chesterfield
• Barrow Hill Primary Academy Chesterfield
• Netherthorpe School Chesterfield

What is Stocksbridge High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Stocksbridge High School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Stocksbridge High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Stocksbridge High School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Stocksbridge High School have?

Stocksbridge High School has 784 pupils on roll.

What age range does Stocksbridge High School cover?

Stocksbridge High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Stocksbridge High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.3, and 39% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Stocksbridge High School?

Stocksbridge High School is at Shay House Lane, Stocksbridge, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S36 1FD.