Don Valley Academy
Jossey Lane, Scawthorpe, Doncaster, DN5 9DD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Robert Burton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Delta Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Doncaster North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,499
- Pupils on roll
- 1,093
- URN
- 137472
- Local authority
- Doncaster
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01302651035
About this school
Don Valley Academy is a secondary academy in Doncaster. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,093 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 July 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. 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 | 178 | 189 | 198 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.3 | 48.5 | 48.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.42 +0.21 to +0.63 | +0.42 +0.21 to +0.62 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 51.9% | 55.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 74.1% | 71.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 56% | 51.3% | 57.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.4 |
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 Don Valley 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 | Doncaster average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.3 | 42 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.5 | 39.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48 | 40.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,079 |
| 2023/24 | 1,099 |
| 2024/25 | 1,101 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Don Valley Academy compares
Don Valley Academy ranked 7th of 20 secondary schools in Doncaster for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48 | 8% | 41% | 1,093 | — |
| Ridgewood School | 49.5 | 6.8% | 21.4% | 1,425 | 0.7 miles |
| Outwood Academy Adwick | 43.7 | 10.5% | 40.3% | 1,048 | 1.6 miles |
| Doncaster UTC | 48.6 | 5.2% | 24.6% | 770 | 2.5 miles |
| Hall Cross Academy | 47.8 | 7% | 31.3% | 2,039 | 2.5 miles |
| XP School | 39.8 | 7.8% | 29.3% | 246 | 3.2 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)
- 40.96%
- English as an additional language
- 10.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.98%
- Persistent absence
- 22.5%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ridgewood School0.7 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
-
Outwood Academy Adwick1.6 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
-
Doncaster UTC2.5 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
-
Hall Cross Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
-
XP School3.2 miles
Secondary · Doncaster
Other schools in Doncaster
Don Valley Academy ranks 7th of the 20 ranked secondary schools in Doncaster.
- Armthorpe Academy Secondary
- Ash Hill Academy Secondary
- Astrea Academy Woodfields Secondary
- Campsmount Academy Secondary
- De Warenne Academy Secondary
- Doncaster UTC Secondary
- Hall Cross Academy Secondary
- Hungerhill School Secondary
- Outwood Academy Adwick Secondary
- Outwood Academy Danum Secondary
- Ridgewood School Secondary
- Sir Thomas Wharton Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Don Valley Academy teach?
- Don Valley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Doncaster.
- Who is the principal of Don Valley Academy?
- The principal of Don Valley Academy is Mr Robert Burton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Don Valley Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Don Valley 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 Don Valley Academy?
- Don Valley Academy has 1,093 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Don Valley Academy full?
- Don Valley Academy has capacity for 1,499 pupils and 1,093 on roll (73%), 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 Don Valley Academy a faith school?
- No. Don Valley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Don Valley Academy a selective school?
- No. Don Valley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Don Valley Academy?
- Don Valley Academy is part of DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Don Valley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.3 in 2022/23 and 48 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Don Valley Academy rank locally?
- Don Valley Academy ranked 7th of 20 secondary schools in Doncaster for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 69% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Don Valley Academy's absence rate?
- Don Valley Academy's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Don Valley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Don Valley 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 1 July 2026.