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Horizon Community College

Secondary Ages 11-16 1,909 pupils Barnsley
Ofsted: Good
All schools in Barnsley

Horizon Community College is an academy converter in Barnsley for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has 1,909 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Horizon Community College is Good, from an inspection in May 2018 of its predecessor, Horizon Community College. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.0, and 53% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Ofsted inspection: November 2023. GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-16
Religion Does not apply
Address Dodworth Road
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 6PD
Phone 01226704230
Reference Number 146455

General Makeup

Number of pupils 1909
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 49.45%
Girls: 50.55%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 29.9%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 12.9%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 24.8

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 199 196 395
8 173 205 378
9 168 216 384
10 207 173 380
11 197 175 372

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 79.9%
White, Other 8.2%
Mixed, Other 2.5%
African 1.6%
Indian 1%
White & Asian 0.7%
White & Black (African) 0.6%
Pakistani 0.6%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.5%
Unclassified 0.4%
Asian, Other 0.4%
Chinese 0.1%
Irish 0.1%
Caribbean 0.1%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, Horizon Community College, inspected in May 2018.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date 04 Oct 2023 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
04 Oct 2023 School inspection
06 Jun 2019 Academy conversion letter
22 May 2018 Short inspection
Previously as Horizon Community College
08 Jul 2014 Full inspection:
30 Jan 2013 Monitoring visit

Ofsted Parent View

The latest published parent view scores are from 2021. Ofsted only publish scores if there have been more than 10 responses to the survey.

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know Total Responses
1. My child is happy at this school. 12 4 0 0 0 16
2. My child feels safe at this school. 11 5 0 0 0 16
3. The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved. 12 3 1 0 0 16
4. My child has been bullied and the school dealt with the bullying quickly and effectively. 10 4 1 1 0 0
5. The school makes me aware of what my child will learn during the year. 14 2 0 0 0 16
6. When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly. 2 9 4 1 0 0
7. My child has SEND, and the school gives them the support they need to succeed.
8. The school has high expectations for my child. 11 4 0 0 1 16
9. My child does well at this school. 14 2 0 0 0 16
10. The school lets me know how my child is doing. 13 3 0 0 0 16
11. There is a good range of subjects available to my child at this school. 12 4 0 0 0 16
12. My child can take part in clubs and activities at this school. 10 5 1 0 0 16
13. The school supports my child’s wider personal development. 11 5 0 0 0 16
14. I would recommend this school to another parent. 16 0

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
49

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 53%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 68.1%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 293 37
Third Preference 129 4
From another Local Authority 4 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Horizon Community College had 1,907 pupils for 2,000 places. 93 places (4.7%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Central Area” planning area

Barnsley counted 961 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 884 in 2031–32, down 8%.

20212022202320242025
Places 2,0002,0002,0002,0002,000
Pupils 1,9861,9821,9941,9631,907
Unfilled 0.7%0.9%0.3%1.9%4.7%

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 Horizon Community College attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20212022202320242025
Authorised absence 3.8%4.3%3.3%3.9%3.6%
Unauthorised absence 1.7%3.9%4.3%4.2%3.0%
Severely absent pupils 1.8%1.9%2.1%3.3%2.6%

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, 5.6% of pupils at Horizon Community College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 9 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.91.54.314.017.517.0
Permanent exclusions 65511109

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 Horizon Community College had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 10.810.810.711.010.310.410.8
Teachers who left state teaching 5.6%6.9%5.1%6.3%4.8%6.9%–
Teachers who took any sick leave –58.0%77.8%74.5%72.9%70.3%–
Sick days per teacher –4.27.65.43.54.5–

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, 13.4% of pupils at Horizon Community College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 87 11
Autistic spectrum disorder 63 9
Specific learning difficulty 68 4
Speech, language and communication needs 28 16
Moderate learning difficulty 1 5
Hearing impairment 3 1
Physical disability 3 1
Vision impairment 3 1
Multi-sensory impairment 0 1
Profound and multiple learning difficulty 0 1

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 Horizon Community College received £9,139 and spent £8,980 for each of its 1,916 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,826,000 (£1,475 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Hcat, income was £7,867 and spending £7,746 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £483,000£721,000£1,612,000£2,459,000£2,552,000£2,826,000
per pupil £245£362£811£1,227£1,293£1,475
In-year balance £429,000-£126,000£1,031,000£729,000-£3,000£305,000
per pupil £217-£63£518£364-£1£159

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.

Name Distance
St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Barnsley
Stocks Lane, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 2DF
0.44 miles
Holy Rood Catholic Primary School
Shaw Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6JL
0.47 miles
Shawlands Primary School
Shaw Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6JL
0.48 miles
Joseph Locke Primary School
Shaw Street, Joseph Locke Primary School, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6JL
0.48 miles
Summer Lane Primary
Summer Lane, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 2BB
0.59 miles
Gawber Primary School
Church Street, Gawber, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 2RJ
0.69 miles
Keresforth Primary School
Keresforth Road, Dodworth, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 3NU
0.87 miles
Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy
Barnsley Road, Dodworth, Dodworth St John the Baptist Ce Primary Academy, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 3JS
0.92 miles
Wilthorpe Primary School
Greenfoot Lane, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 1EG
1.18 miles
Queens Road Academy
Queens Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 1AR
1.28 miles
Worsbrough Common Primary School
Bruce Avenue, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 4EB
1.34 miles
Oakwell Rise Primary Academy
Doncaster Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 1TS
1.4 miles
Barugh Green Primary School
Higham Common Road, Barugh Green, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S75 1LD
1.62 miles
Ward Green Primary School
Vernon Road, Worsbrough Bridge, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 5HJ
1.65 miles
Burton Road Primary School
Old Mill, Burton Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 2AA
1.72 miles
The Mill Academy
Lobwood, Worsbrough Bridge, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 5EP
2.06 miles
The Forest Academy
Thornton Road, Kendray, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 3NG
2.06 miles
Athersley South Primary School
Wakefield Road, Smithies, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 3TP
2.18 miles
Bank End Primary Academy
Underwood Avenue, Worsbrough Dale, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 4AZ
2.22 miles
Laithes Primary School
Laithes Lane, Smithies, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 3AF
2.28 miles
Name Distance
Trinity Academy St. Edwards
Keresforth Close, Barnsley, S70 6FP
0.44 miles
Greenacre School
Keresforth Hill Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6RG
0.52 miles
Barnsley College
PO Box 266, Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2YW
0.9 miles
Barnsley Academy
Farm Road, Kendray, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 3DL
2.32 miles
Springwell Special Academy
St Helen's Boulevard, Carlton Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 2AY
2.35 miles
West Riding Academy
Ardsley Road, Barnsley, S70 4RG
2.58 miles
Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School
Carlton Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 2LF
2.65 miles
Darton Academy
Ballfield Lane, Darton, Barnsley, S75 5EF
2.82 miles
Outwood Academy Carlton
Royston Lane, Carlton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 3EW
3.45 miles
Kirk Balk Academy
West Street, Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S74 9HX
4.1 miles
Park House School
Wentworth Way, Tankersley, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, S75 3DH
4.1 miles
Netherwood Academy
Dove Valley Way, Wombwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S73 8FE
4.59 miles
Outwood Academy Shafton
Engine Lane, Shafton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S72 8RE
4.82 miles

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

Horizon Community College is part of Hcat, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

What is Horizon Community College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Horizon Community College is Good, from an inspection in May 2018 of its predecessor, Horizon Community College.

When was Horizon Community College last inspected by Ofsted?

Horizon Community College was last inspected in November 2023.

How many pupils does Horizon Community College have?

Horizon Community College has 1,909 pupils on roll.

What age range does Horizon Community College cover?

Horizon Community College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Horizon Community College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.0, and 53% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Horizon Community College?

Horizon Community College is at Dodworth Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 6PD.

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