Penistone Grammar School
Huddersfield Road, Penistone, Sheffield, S36 7BX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Mr Paul Crook
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Penistone and Stocksbridge
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,877
- Pupils on roll
- 1,946
- URN
- 106653
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01226762114
About this school
Penistone Grammar School is a community secondary school in Sheffield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,946 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 3 February 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 317 | 310 | 329 |
| Attainment 8 score | 55.8 | 55.4 | 53.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.46 +0.30 to +0.62 | +0.33 +0.17 to +0.49 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 66% | 67.1% | 59.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 83% | 81.6% | 76.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 55.2% | 49.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.8 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Penistone Grammar School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Barnsley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55.8 | 35.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.4 | 34.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53.6 | 38.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,879 |
| 2023/24 | 1,893 |
| 2024/25 | 1,922 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Penistone Grammar School compares
Penistone Grammar School ranked 1st of 10 secondary schools in Barnsley for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53.6 | 7.1% | 15.5% | 1,946 | — |
| Stocksbridge High School | 39.5 | 10.4% | 31.1% | 784 | 4.2 miles |
| Shelley College, A Share Academy | 51.3 | 6% | 14.2% | 1,274 | 4.2 miles |
| Darton Academy | 52.1 | 7.3% | 22.9% | 1,099 | 4.9 miles |
| Horizon Community College | 49.8 | 6.7% | 29.4% | 1,909 | 5.5 miles |
| Trinity Academy St. Edwards | — | 7.3% | 25.7% | 882 | 5.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 15.48%
- English as an additional language
- 1.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.12%
- Persistent absence
- 17.25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Stocksbridge High School4.2 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Shelley College, A Share Academy4.2 miles
Secondary · Huddersfield
-
Darton Academy4.9 miles
Secondary · Barnsley
-
Horizon Community College5.5 miles
Secondary · Barnsley
-
Trinity Academy St. Edwards5.7 miles
Secondary · Barnsley
Other schools in Sheffield
Penistone Grammar School ranks 6th of the 34 ranked secondary schools in Sheffield.
- All Saints' Catholic High School Secondary
- Aston Academy Secondary
- Bradfield Secondary School Secondary
- Chaucer School Secondary
- Dinnington High School Secondary
- E-Act Parkwood Academy Secondary
- Ecclesfield School Secondary
- Eckington School Secondary
- Fir Vale Academy Secondary
- Forge Valley School & Sixth Form Secondary
- Handsworth Grange Community Sports College Secondary
- High Storrs School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Penistone Grammar School teach?
- Penistone Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sheffield.
- Who is the principal of Penistone Grammar School?
- The principal of Penistone Grammar School is Mr Paul Crook, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Penistone Grammar School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Penistone Grammar School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Penistone Grammar School?
- Penistone Grammar School has 1,946 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Penistone Grammar School full?
- Penistone Grammar School has capacity for 1,877 pupils and 1,946 on roll (104%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Penistone Grammar School a faith school?
- No. Penistone Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is Penistone Grammar School a selective school?
- No. Penistone Grammar School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Penistone Grammar School have?
- The schools register lists Penistone Grammar School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Penistone Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 55.8 in 2022/23 and 53.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Penistone Grammar School rank locally?
- Penistone Grammar School ranked 1st of 10 secondary schools in Barnsley for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Penistone Grammar School's absence rate?
- Penistone Grammar School's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Penistone Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Penistone Grammar School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.