Valley Academy
Cliffe Terrace, Bradford, BD8 7DX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Jane Hobbs
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Delta Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Bradford West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 375
- Pupils on roll
- 356
- URN
- 139474
- Local authority
- Bradford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01274723439
About this school
Valley Academy is a secondary academy in Bradford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 356 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Valley Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 74 | 71 | 77 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.0 | 30.8 | 38.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.29 -0.63 to +0.05 | -1.01 -1.36 to -0.66 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 27% | 16.9% | 45.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 31% | 62.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 16.9% | 1.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.1 |
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 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 | Bradford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 35 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30.8 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.7 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 378 |
| 2023/24 | 368 |
| 2024/25 | 364 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Valley Academy compares
Valley Academy ranked 21st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.7 | 14% | 53.6% | 356 | — |
| Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy | 54.8 | 6% | 32.5% | 796 | 0.6 miles |
| Oasis Academy Lister Park | 31.6 | 13.5% | 57% | 732 | 0.7 miles |
| Carlton Bolling | 44.4 | 8.9% | 43.7% | 1,633 | 0.9 miles |
| Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Bradford | 49.1 | 6.5% | 30.3% | 598 | 1.0 miles |
| Hanson Academy | 35.1 | 14.9% | 47.5% | 1,503 | 1.2 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report17 March 2026
- 13 June 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 53.57%
- English as an additional language
- 65.4%
- Overall absence
- 13.96%
- Persistent absence
- 39.42%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Oasis Academy Lister Park0.7 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Carlton Bolling0.9 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Bradford1.0 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Hanson Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Bradford
Other schools in Bradford
Valley Academy ranks 17th of the 28 ranked secondary schools in Bradford.
- Beckfoot Thornton Secondary
- Beckfoot Upper Heaton Secondary
- Belle Vue Girls' Academy Secondary
- Bradford Forster Academy Secondary
- Bradford Girls' Grammar School Secondary
- Bronte Girls' Academy Secondary
- Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy Secondary
- Carlton Bolling Secondary
- Co-op Academy Grange Secondary
- Dixons City Academy Secondary
- Dixons Kings Academy Secondary
- Dixons McMillan Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Valley Academy teach?
- Valley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bradford.
- Who is the principal of Valley Academy?
- The principal of Valley Academy is Mrs Jane Hobbs, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Valley Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected 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 many pupils are at Valley Academy?
- Valley Academy has 356 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Valley Academy full?
- Valley Academy has capacity for 375 pupils and 356 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Valley Academy a faith school?
- No. Valley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Valley Academy a selective school?
- No. Valley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Valley Academy part of an academy trust?
- 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 Valley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 35 in 2022/23 and 38.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Valley Academy compare with other schools in Bradford?
- Valley Academy ranked 21st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Valley Academy's absence rate?
- Valley Academy's overall absence rate is 14% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Valley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, 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.