Barclay Academy
Walkern Road, Stevenage, SG1 3RB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FUTURE ACADEMIES
- Headteacher
- Ms Scarlett O'Sullivan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Future Academies
- Constituency
- Stevenage
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,181
- Pupils on roll
- 1,044
- URN
- 144623
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01438748459
About this school
Barclay Academy is a secondary academy in Stevenage. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,044 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 125 | 123 | 117 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.2 | 48.4 | 49.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.02 -0.28 to +0.23 | +0.17 -0.09 to +0.43 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50% | 53.7% | 57.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 76.4% | 74.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 54% | 74.8% | 65.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
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 Barclay 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 | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.2 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.4 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.5 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 814 |
| 2023/24 | 916 |
| 2024/25 | 992 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Barclay Academy compares
Barclay Academy ranked 42nd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.5 | 8.6% | 26% | 1,044 | — |
| The Thomas Alleyne Academy | 48 | 7.9% | 23.9% | 970 | 0.2 miles |
| The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School | 57.9 | 5.5% | 10.3% | 1,620 | 0.5 miles |
| Marriotts School | 42.4 | 9.4% | 32.9% | 1,415 | 1.4 miles |
| The Nobel School | 50.2 | 7.3% | 19.9% | 1,475 | 1.5 miles |
| Barnwell School | 41.5 | 10.9% | 30.1% | 1,270 | 2.2 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)
- 25.99%
- English as an additional language
- 14.7%
- Overall absence
- 8.61%
- Persistent absence
- 23.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Thomas Alleyne Academy0.2 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School0.5 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
Marriotts School1.4 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
The Nobel School1.5 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
-
Barnwell School2.2 miles
Secondary · Stevenage
Other schools in Stevenage
Barclay Academy ranks 3rd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Stevenage.
- Barnwell School Secondary
- Marriotts School Secondary
- The Nobel School Secondary
- The Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School Secondary
- The Thomas Alleyne Academy Secondary
- Peartree Way Nursery School Nursery
- Almond Hill Junior School Primary
- Ardeley St Lawrence Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Ashtree Primary Academy Primary
- Aston St Mary's Church of England Aided Primary School Primary
- Bedwell Primary School Primary
- Benington Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Barclay Academy teach?
- Barclay Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Stevenage.
- Who is the headteacher of Barclay Academy?
- The headteacher of Barclay Academy is Ms Scarlett O'Sullivan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Barclay Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Barclay 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 Barclay Academy?
- Barclay Academy has 1,044 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Barclay Academy full?
- Barclay Academy has capacity for 1,181 pupils and 1,044 on roll (88%), 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 Barclay Academy a faith school?
- No. Barclay Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Barclay Academy a selective school?
- No. Barclay Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Barclay Academy?
- Barclay Academy is part of FUTURE ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Barclay Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.2 in 2022/23 and 49.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Barclay Academy rank locally?
- Barclay Academy ranked 42nd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Barclay Academy's absence rate?
- Barclay Academy's overall absence rate is 8.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Barclay Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Barclay 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.