Aston Academy
Aughton Road, Swallownest, Sheffield, S26 4SF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ASTON COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST
- Associate Principal
- Mr James Graham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Aston Community Education Trust (ACET)
- Constituency
- Rother Valley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,800
- Pupils on roll
- 1,366
- URN
- 136718
- Local authority
- Rotherham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01142872171
About this school
Aston Academy is a secondary academy in Sheffield. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,366 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 263 | 294 | 276 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.9 | 44.1 | 44.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.36 -0.54 to -0.19 | -0.29 -0.45 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 49.7% | 44.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 65% | 63.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 50% | 61.9% | 36.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
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 Aston Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Rotherham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.9 | 36.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.1 | 36 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.2 | 33.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,590 |
| 2023/24 | 1,595 |
| 2024/25 | 1,508 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Aston Academy compares
Aston Academy ranked 8th of 15 secondary schools in Rotherham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.2 | 9% | 21.6% | 1,366 | — |
| Handsworth Grange Community Sports College | 36.6 | 10.9% | 34.3% | 989 | 2.1 miles |
| Westfield School | 41.5 | 11.2% | 27.7% | 1,366 | 2.3 miles |
| Wales High School | 45.3 | 8.8% | 26.9% | 1,783 | 2.7 miles |
| Outwood Academy City | 40.4 | 12.3% | 43.3% | 1,138 | 2.9 miles |
| Brinsworth Academy | 44.5 | 8.4% | 32.9% | 1,389 | 3.3 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report28 April 2026
- 5 December 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.6%
- English as an additional language
- 6.2%
- Overall absence
- 9.03%
- Persistent absence
- 25.97%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Handsworth Grange Community Sports College2.1 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Westfield School2.3 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Wales High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Outwood Academy City2.9 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Brinsworth Academy3.3 miles
Secondary · Rotherham
Other schools in Sheffield
Aston Academy ranks 16th of the 34 ranked secondary schools in Sheffield.
- All Saints' Catholic High School 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
- King Ecgbert School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Aston Academy teach?
- Aston Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Sheffield.
- Who is the associate principal of Aston Academy?
- The associate principal of Aston Academy is Mr James Graham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Aston Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Aston Academy, 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 Aston Academy?
- Aston Academy has 1,366 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Aston Academy full?
- Aston Academy has capacity for 1,800 pupils and 1,366 on roll (76%), so it has space against 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 Aston Academy a faith school?
- No. Aston Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Aston Academy a selective school?
- No. Aston Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Aston Academy?
- Aston Academy is part of ASTON COMMUNITY EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Aston Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.9 in 2022/23 and 44.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Aston Academy rank locally?
- Aston Academy ranked 8th of 15 secondary schools in Rotherham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Aston Academy's absence rate?
- Aston Academy's overall absence rate is 9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Aston Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Aston Academy'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 15 July 2026.