The Birley Academy
Birley Lane, Sheffield, S12 3BP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Victoria Hall
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- L.E.A.D. Multi-Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Sheffield South East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,163
- Pupils on roll
- 1,061
- URN
- 143963
- Local authority
- Sheffield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01142392531
About this school
The Birley Academy is a secondary academy in Sheffield. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,061 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 205 | 201 | 219 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.7 | 38.6 | 37.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.50 to -0.11 | -0.28 -0.48 to -0.07 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 36.3% | 27.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 57.7% | 51.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 6.5% | 28.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
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 The Birley 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 | Sheffield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.7 | 40.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.6 | 39.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37.2 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,083 |
| 2023/24 | 1,091 |
| 2024/25 | 1,108 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Birley Academy compares
The Birley Academy ranked 23rd of 29 secondary schools in Sheffield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37.2 | 11.6% | 36.5% | 1,061 | — |
| Outwood Academy City | 40.4 | 12.3% | 43.3% | 1,138 | 1.3 miles |
| Sheffield Springs Academy | 38.9 | 13.2% | 59% | 1,083 | 1.7 miles |
| Handsworth Grange Community Sports College | 36.6 | 10.9% | 34.3% | 989 | 2.3 miles |
| Sheffield Park Academy | 35.1 | 13.5% | 58.4% | 1,185 | 2.4 miles |
| Newfield Secondary School | 47.9 | 7.5% | 36.1% | 1,048 | 2.5 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)
- 36.46%
- English as an additional language
- 11%
- Overall absence
- 11.61%
- Persistent absence
- 32.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Outwood Academy City1.3 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Sheffield Springs Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Handsworth Grange Community Sports College2.3 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Sheffield Park Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
-
Newfield Secondary School2.5 miles
Secondary · Sheffield
Other schools in Sheffield
The Birley Academy ranks 28th 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 The Birley Academy teach?
- The Birley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Sheffield.
- Who is the headteacher of The Birley Academy?
- The headteacher of The Birley Academy is Mrs Victoria Hall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Birley Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Birley 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 The Birley Academy?
- The Birley Academy has 1,061 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Birley Academy full?
- The Birley Academy has capacity for 1,163 pupils and 1,061 on roll (91%), 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 The Birley Academy a faith school?
- No. The Birley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Birley Academy a selective school?
- No. The Birley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Birley Academy?
- The Birley Academy is part of L.E.A.D. ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Birley Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Birley Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Birley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.7 in 2022/23 and 37.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Birley Academy rank locally?
- The Birley Academy ranked 23rd of 29 secondary schools in Sheffield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Birley Academy's absence rate?
- The Birley Academy's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Birley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Birley 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 10 July 2026.