Bradfield Secondary School

Bradfield School has improved rapidly since its previous inspection and is now performing well across all inspected areas. After a period of change, new leaders have brought greater stability and are rebuilding trust among pupils and staff. Relationships are warm and respectful, behaviour in lessons is calm and focused, bullying is extremely rare, and safeguarding is effective. The curriculum has been redesigned and strengthened with strong trust support and high-quality training, while reading support and provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including the resourced provision, have improved. Personal development has broadened through clubs, sporting competitions, residential trips and a strong careers programme, including bespoke work-experience projects for pupils with SEND. Attendance has improved markedly after historically poor levels, and governance provides robust oversight that is helping the school improve quickly. The main area for further improvement is teaching consistency: sometimes when teachers identify gaps or misconceptions, adaptations are not thought through carefully enough to ensure all pupils fully secure the intended learning. The school should use knowledge of what pupils should know to anticipate who may struggle. The new personal development framework is not yet fully embedded, and some personal, social and health education content, particularly democracy and the rule of law at key stage 4, is less well remembered. A small number of pupils and staff still have concerns about the school's effectiveness, although leaders are addressing this through better communication. Overall, the school is in a strong position and continuing to improve.

Strengths

• Rapid improvement and greater stability under new leadership
• Warm, respectful staff-pupil relationships and calm, focused lessons
• High expectations for conduct that pupils typically meet
• Effective strategies for responding to poor behaviour, with bullying extremely rare
• Redesigned curriculum that identifies and revisits key knowledge
• Strong trust support and high-quality ongoing staff training
• Effective reading strategy with tailored interventions and diverse texts
• Improved SEND provision, including the resourced provision, with effective support
• Broad personal development offer including clubs, sport, trips and strong careers work
• Highly effective work to improve attendance, including for disadvantaged pupils
• Robust governance and oversight supporting rapid improvement
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Some lesson activities do not ensure all pupils fully secure the intended learning
• Teaching does not consistently anticipate which pupils may struggle when gaps are identified
• The new personal development framework is not yet fully embedded
• Some PSHE content, particularly democracy and rule of law at key stage 4, is less well remembered
• A small number of pupils and staff still have concerns about the school's effectiveness

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 Bradfield Secondary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.5% 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, 9.2% of pupils at Bradfield Secondary School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Bradfield Secondary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.4% 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, 10.0% of pupils at Bradfield Secondary School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 10 pupils.

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 Bradfield Secondary School received £8,088 and spent £8,371 for each of its 1,024 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £362,000 (£353 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Inova Multi-Academy Trust Limited, income was £7,607 and spending £7,667 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

Bradfield Secondary School is part of Inova Multi-Academy Trust Limited, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Wisewood Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Shooters Grove Nursery and Primary School Sheffield
• Forge Valley School & Sixth Form Sheffield
• Meynell Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Southey Green Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Tapton School & Sixth Form Sheffield
• Hallam Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Dobcroft Junior School Sheffield

What is Bradfield Secondary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bradfield Secondary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Bradfield Secondary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bradfield Secondary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Bradfield Secondary School have?

Bradfield Secondary School has 1,006 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bradfield Secondary School cover?

Bradfield Secondary School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Bradfield Secondary School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.4, and 55% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bradfield Secondary School?

Bradfield Secondary School is at Kirk Edge Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S35 0AE.