Thrybergh Academy

Thrybergh Academy requires significant improvement following its full inspection in July 2026. Safeguarding standards are met. New leaders have accurately identified the main challenges and have begun to improve some aspects of the school, but pupils' achievement and attendance have declined over the past three years. The school is part of the Wickersley Partnership Trust and serves a community with high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); it also has an additional resourced provision for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. Inclusion and personal development are relative strengths. Leaders have clear systems for identifying pupils who need extra support, use disadvantaged pupil funding thoughtfully, and provide effective pastoral and careers support. Pupils benefit from a well-planned personal development programme, a range of wider opportunities, and improved behaviour. Governance has been refined, the trust has increased support, and staff are generally positive about the clarity and stability new leaders have brought. The main concerns are achievement and attendance. Pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, achieve well below national averages, and too many leave school without the knowledge, skills or qualifications they need for their next steps. Attendance and persistent absence are very high. Curriculum and teaching still need attention: pupils' knowledge gaps are not always resolved, support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent, handwriting support is limited, and some pupils do not access appropriate qualifications. Leaders sometimes have an overly optimistic view of the impact of their actions, and improvements are not yet having a significant enough effect.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Clear systems identify pupils who need extra support and share information with teachers.
• The additional resourced provision for social, emotional and mental health needs is effective.
• Disadvantaged pupil funding is used thoughtfully to raise aspirations and remove barriers.
• The personal development programme is well thought out and reflects pupils and the local community.
• Pupils receive effective relationships and sex education and learn how to stay safe online and locally.
• A range of after-school activities, trips and visits is available and accessible to all pupils.
• Pastoral support is effective, with staff responding swiftly when help is needed.
• Careers education is effective and gives extra support to SEND and vulnerable pupils.
• Behaviour has improved, rules and rewards are understood, and suspensions have reduced.
• Bullying and discrimination are taken seriously and addressed quickly and effectively.
• The school generally has a calm and purposeful atmosphere with respectful pupils.
• Governance has been refined and local governors hold leaders to account with increasing confidence.
• The trust has recognised the need for rapid improvement and increased its support.
• Staff appreciate the clarity and stability of new leadership and feel leaders consider their wellbeing.
• Parents appreciate more opportunities to engage and find leaders accessible.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement has declined over time and remains well below national averages.
• Too many pupils leave school without the knowledge, skills or qualifications needed for their next steps.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve particularly poorly.
• Attendance has decreased significantly and too many pupils miss school too often.
• Persistent absence is very high, especially for pupils with SEND.
• Effective systems are not in place to help pupils who miss school catch up.
• Curriculum and teaching require attention and improvements are still at an early stage.
• Pupils often have gaps in subject knowledge that are not resolved.
• Teachers do not always adapt their teaching effectively for pupils with SEND.
• Many pupils do not get the support they need to improve their handwriting.
• Leaders do not always ensure pupils access qualifications appropriate for their next steps.
• Leaders sometimes lack precision in assessing impact and have an overly optimistic view of progress.
• Actions to improve achievement have not yet had a significant impact.
• Actions to improve attendance have not led to rapid or sustained improvement.
• The curriculum is not yet sufficiently ambitious and matched to all pupils' needs.

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 Thrybergh Academy attended 82.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 42.2% 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, 18.9% of pupils at Thrybergh Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Thrybergh Academy had 14.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.2% 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, 26.9% of pupils at Thrybergh Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.9% 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 Thrybergh Academy received £9,998 and spent £9,950 for each of its 562 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £284,000 (-£506 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Wickersley Partnership Trust, income was £8,491 and spending £8,459 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 Rotherham · Rotherham local authority: places and applications

Thrybergh Academy is part of Wickersley Partnership Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Thrybergh Primary School Rotherham
• Foljambe Primary School Rotherham
• Rawmarsh Sandhill Primary School Rotherham
• Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary School Rotherham
• Clifton Community School Rotherham
• Wickersley School and Sports College Rotherham
• Rawmarsh Community School Rotherham
• Monkwood Primary School Rotherham
• Brinsworth Whitehill Primary School Rotherham
• Aston Lodge Primary School Sheffield

What is Thrybergh Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thrybergh Academy is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Thrybergh Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Thrybergh Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Thrybergh Academy have?

Thrybergh Academy has 525 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thrybergh Academy cover?

Thrybergh Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Thrybergh Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 34.6, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Thrybergh Academy?

Thrybergh Academy is at Park Lane, Thrybergh, Rotherham, S65 4BP.