Ecclesfield School
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Ecclesfield School is a sponsored academy in Sheffield for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,711 pupils and room for 1,750. About 30 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. We give it 27 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 29% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
Chapeltown Road, Ecclesfield, Sheffield, S35 9WD0114 246 1156ecclesfield-school.comMr Richard Walkden headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 24 May 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
349 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018† | Sheffield | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 349 | 324 | 330 | 326 | 333 | 325 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 41.5 | 43.1 | 41.5 | 47.0 | 45.5 | 46.4 | 45.2 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.22 | -0.32 | -0.07 | -0.01 | -0.10 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 32% | 40% | 32% | 45% | 35% | 40% | 44% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 58% | 61% | 57% | 70% | 58% | 63% | 64% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.78 | 3.92 | 3.67 | 4.12 | 4.02 | 4.17 | 4.01 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 65% | 64% | 63% | 61% | 56% | 64% | 40% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 29.7 | 30.9 | 31.2 | 36.7 | 37.1 | 36.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 46.6 | 47.3 | 45.3 | 51.1 | 49.0 | 49.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 27.1 | 28.0 | 29.3 | 25.4 | 28.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 63.3 | 62.8 | 69.1 | 58.7 | 59.9 | – | – |
† These results are for Ecclesfield School, the school this one replaced in December 2017. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 18 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Business (23% here, 51% across England), Chemistry (55% here, 81% across England), Art and Design (35% here, 58% across England), Religious Studies (40% here, 60% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 349 | 9% | 44% | 62% | 58% | 2,483 of 3,202 |
| Mathematics | 345 | 13% | 38% | 65% | 53% | 2,550 of 3,211 |
| English Language | 343 | 10% | 43% | 67% | 54% | 2,316 of 3,210 |
| Combined Science | 245 | 2% | 19% | 41% | 36% | 2,661 of 3,084 |
| History | 154 | 11% | 47% | 65% | 52% | 1,775 of 3,126 |
| Geography | 148 | 14% | 41% | 49% | 51% | 2,045 of 3,116 |
| French | 122 | 7% | 48% | 64% | 60% | 1,420 of 1,974 |
| Art and Design | 119 | 13% | 35% | 60% | 58% | 2,391 of 2,818 |
| Biology | 92 | 15% | 62% | 88% | 82% | 2,206 of 2,570 |
| Chemistry | 92 | 13% | 55% | 76% | 81% | 2,270 of 2,537 |
| Physics | 92 | 14% | 65% | 84% | 82% | 2,099 of 2,546 |
| Business | 77 | 7% | 23% | 44% | 51% | 1,626 of 1,806 |
| German | 53 | 11% | 43% | 51% | 63% | 470 of 571 |
| Spanish | 51 | 12% | 41% | 63% | 54% | 1,431 of 1,941 |
| Computer Science | 40 | 23% | 48% | 58% | 56% | 1,140 of 1,861 |
| Statistics | 31 | 10% | 58% | 84% | 51% | 218 of 375 |
| Religious Studies | 15 | 20% | 40% | 60% | 60% | – |
| Physical Education | 14 | 21% | 71% | 79% | 56% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Sheffield council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 15 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.
Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
The last child to get a place lived 2.2 miles away in 2026. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils, faith and other priority groups are placed first. After that, the closer you live, the better your chances. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 2.2 miles from the school. Living closer than that didn't guarantee a place, but living much further away meant missing out that year.
| Entry | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 365 | 2.2 miles | LA |
What a home inside the catchment costs
Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (89), Autistic spectrum disorder (78), Moderate learning difficulty (65), Specific learning difficulty (64), language and communications needs (46), Hearing impairment (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,711 | 1,718 | 1,730 | 1,711 | 1,681 | 1,687 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 31% | 28% | 27% | 27% | 23% | 22% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 20% | 20% | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 10.3% | 10.3% | 10.4% | 9.3% | 5.4% | 4.9% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.3% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.0% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 6.0% | 8.4% | 8.9% | 7.3% | 4.2% | 3.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 27.6% | 28.6% | 30.2% | 27.2% | 14.1% | 10.8% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 32.0 | 42.3 | 36.8 | 17.1 | 11.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 330 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 82%, compared with 95% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 91% | 91% | 93% | 92% |
| Education | 82% | 80% | 81% | 84% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 6% | 9% | 7% |
| Work | 4% | 4% | 4% | 2% |
| Not in education, work or training | 6% | 6% | 6% | 7% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yewlands Academy | Academy | 1.6 miles | 884 | No overall grade 2024 | 14 | Compare |
| Lift Firth Park | Academy | 2.1 miles | 1,115 | No overall grade 2025 | 3 | Compare |
| Mercia Northridge School | Academy | 2.1 miles | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Hinde House 2-16 Academy | Academy | 2.5 miles | 1,456 | Report card 2026 | 28 | Compare |
| E-Act Parkwood Academy | Academy | 2.9 miles | 886 | Good 2023 | 30 | Compare |
| Winterhill School | Academy | 3.0 miles | 941 | Good 2023 | 31 | Compare |
| Fir Vale Academy | Academy | 3.3 miles | 931 | No overall grade 2025 | 1 | Compare |
| Kirk Balk Academy | Academy | 3.4 miles | 1,318 | Good 2020 | 44 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Ecclesfield School with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Ecclesfield School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Community College | Academy | 6.9 miles | 1,909 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Meadowhead School Academy Trust | Academy | 8.8 miles | 2,006 | Good 2022 | 45 | Compare |
| Wales High School | Academy | 11.0 miles | 1,783 | Good 2023 | 45 | Compare |
| Hall Cross Academy | Academy | 14.8 miles | 2,039 | Good 2023 | 71 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 27 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 27% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 20 to 34. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.10 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 349 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 17% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 4.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.09 | DfE progress measure; 349 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.09 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.06 | 2024/25; 1,784 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.06 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 349 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | in line | 0.00 | 330 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Ecclesfield School a good school?
The figures are weak. Ecclesfield School scores 27 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 29% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 20 to 34, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Ecclesfield School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Ecclesfield School good at its last full inspection on 24 May 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How good are Ecclesfield School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 32% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 41.5, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished a little behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Ecclesfield School have?
1,711 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,750 places, so it is 98% full.
Is Ecclesfield School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 2.2 miles away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Ecclesfield School?
Pupils were in school 89.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 28% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Ecclesfield School?
The average class had 24.2 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 10% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Ecclesfield School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 91% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Chapeltown Road, Ecclesfield, Sheffield, S35 9WD
- Telephone
- 0114 246 1156
- Website
- www.ecclesfield-school.com
- Headteacher
- Mr Richard Walkden
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Minerva Learning Trust (10 schools)
- Local authority
- Sheffield
- Ward
- East Ecclesfield
- Constituency
- Penistone and Stocksbridge
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2017 (fresh start)
- URN
- 145191 · LAESTAB 3734012 · UKPRN 10065904
- Formerly
- Ecclesfield School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Sheffield council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Catchment area: Sheffield council open data (Open Government Licence), reprojected to WGS84.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.