West Riding Academy
West Riding Academy is a special academy in Barnsley for boys and girls aged 11 to 19.
Ardsley Road, Barnsley, S70 4RGRichard Hadfield headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet. That is normal for a school that opened in 2026: new schools usually get their first inspection within three years.
Before it became this school, Kenwood Academy was inspected on 9 March 2022 and judged Good (report). Same building, same children, so that report is the best guide until Ofsted comes back.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
29 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of Kenwood Academy, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | Barnsley | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 29 | 17 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 41.5 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -3.74 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 42% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 60% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.01 | 0.10 | 3.66 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 32% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 0.2 | 3.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 0.8 | 0.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 0.0 | – | – |
† These results are for Kenwood Academy, the school this one replaced in April 2026. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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. Every gap at this school 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.
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.
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 69.1% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 30.9% | 23.1% | 25.2% | 32.8% | 27.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 23.2% | 18.3% | 20.5% | 27.1% | 21.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 7.7% | 4.8% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 6.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 62.6% | 61.8% | 60.4% | 85.4% | 31.5% | 12.8% |
† These attendance figures are for Kenwood Academy, the school this one replaced in April 2026. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnsley Academy | Academy | 590 m | 874 | Good 2020 | 42 | Compare |
| Bank End Primary Academy | Academy | 660 m | 199 | Report card 2026 | 80 | Compare |
| The Mill Academy | Academy | 910 m | 211 | Good 2022 | 33 | Compare |
| Hunningley Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 426 | Outstanding 2023 | 96 | Compare |
| The Forest Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 346 | Outstanding 2023 | 82 | Compare |
| Ward Green Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 357 | No overall grade 2024 | 51 | Compare |
| Oakhill Primary Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 328 | Not inspected | 21 | Compare |
| Worsbrough Common Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 393 | Good 2024 | 54 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is West Riding Academy a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score West Riding Academy yet.
How good are West Riding Academy's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% 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 0.4, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does West Riding Academy have?
The number of pupils is not published.
What is attendance like at West Riding Academy?
Pupils were in school 69.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 63% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does West Riding Academy have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Ardsley Road, Barnsley, S70 4RG
- Headteacher
- Richard Hadfield
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Nexus Multi Academy Trust (23 schools)
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Ward
- Worsbrough
- Constituency
- Barnsley South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2026 (split school)
- URN
- 152330 · LAESTAB 3705950 · UKPRN 10100434
- Formerly
- Kenwood Academy
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.
- 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.