Springwell Alternative Academy
Springwell Alternative Academy is an academy alternative provision converter in Barnsley for boys and girls aged 4 to 16. It has 57 pupils and room for 99. About 79 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
St Helen's Boulevard, Carlton Road, Barnsley, S71 2AY01226 291133springwelllearningcommunity.co.ukDavid Fallis executive principalAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 5 May 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Barnsley council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (7), language and communications needs (4), Moderate learning difficulty (3), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 57 | 42 | 36 | 56 | 24 | 34 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 79% | 71% | 72% | 68% | 79% | 59% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 79% | 81% | 57% | 50% | 65% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 12% | 17% | 11% | 17% | 21% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 14 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 33%, compared with – for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 36% | 46% | 43% |
| Education | 21% | 46% | 43% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 50% | 36% | 29% |
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 primary 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springwell Special Academy | Academy | 40 m | 136 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School | Academy | 620 m | 1,108 | No overall grade 2025 | 6 | Compare |
| Lift St Helen's | Academy | 880 m | 183 | Good 2024 | 24 | Compare |
| Athersley South Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 306 | Not inspected | 74 | Compare |
| Laithes Primary School | Academy | 0.8 miles | 308 | Report card 2026 | 64 | Compare |
| Burton Road Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 331 | Good 2023 | 71 | Compare |
| Carlton Primary Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 317 | Good 2023 | 59 | Compare |
| Outwood Primary Academy Littleworth Grange | Academy | 1.1 miles | 394 | Good 2024 | 73 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Springwell Alternative Academy a good school?
Springwell Alternative Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in May 2023.
What is Springwell Alternative Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Springwell Alternative Academy good at its last full inspection on 5 May 2023.
How many pupils does Springwell Alternative Academy have?
57 pupils aged 4 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 99 places, so it is 58% full.
Does Springwell Alternative Academy have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- St Helen's Boulevard, Carlton Road, Barnsley, S71 2AY
- Telephone
- 01226 291133
- Website
- www.springwelllearningcommunity.co.uk
- Executive Principal
- David Fallis
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Academy alternative provision converter (Academy alternative provision converter, academies)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 4-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Wellspring Academy Trust (33 schools)
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Ward
- St Helens
- Constituency
- Barnsley North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2014 (academy converter)
- URN
- 141564 · LAESTAB 3701101 · UKPRN 10048069
- Formerly
- Barnsley PRU
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.