Fir Vale Academy
Secondary school · Academy converter · ages 11 to 16
Owler Lane, Sheffield, S4 8GB
- Pupils931
- Ages11 to 16
- Latest Ofsted25 Feb 2025
- FundingState-funded
Ofsted inspections
Shown exactly as Ofsted published them, each with its own date.
Graded inspection (no overall grade) · 25 Feb 2025
This inspection was of a predecessor school (Fir Vale School), before it reopened under its current reference number. Ofsted says grades of a predecessor school can’t, in law, transfer to the new one.
No overall grade: from September 2024 to November 2025 Ofsted gave sub-grades only (recorded as “Not judged”).
- Quality of educationRequires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
- Personal developmentGood
- Leadership and managementRequires improvement
- Safeguarding is effectiveYes
Grades run from Outstanding to Inadequate (four steps, left to right).
Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 2 · report published 22 Apr 2025
Read the full reports on Ofsted’s website (opens in a new tab) — they explain the reasons behind each grade.
Source: Ofsted, state-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (latest inspections as at 30 September 2026). Newer inspections may be on Ofsted’s website. How Ofsted inspections work.
Results
GCSE results (end of Year 11, key stage 4)
Latest: 2025/26 (provisional) · 180 pupils. Each figure shows its year. What these mean
2025/26 results are provisional: the DfE will revise them (next update due February 2027). The provisional data has no EBacc figures, so EBacc is from an earlier year.
Attainment 8 score
Each pupil’s results across 8 qualifications (maths counts double, and English usually does too), averaged across the school. It partly reflects pupils’ starting points.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “strong pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “standard pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Progress 8 score
Compares pupils’ Attainment 8 results with pupils across England who had similar results at the end of primary school. 0 means about the same; above 0 means more progress, below 0 less. How to read Progress 8.
No Progress 8 score
The Department for Education says Progress 8 can’t be calculated for 2024/25 or 2025/26, because those pupils had no key stage 2 test results (the tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19).
Results describe one group of pupils in one year, so they can change a lot — especially in small schools. The DfE says “conclusions should not be drawn on a single piece of data alone.” This school on the DfE’s performance tables (opens in a new tab).
Source: Department for Education, school performance tables and Explore education statistics (key stage 4, 2025/26 provisional). England and local authority figures are the DfE’s own, for the same year.
Pupils and attendance
- Pupils
- 931 (capacity 1,050)
460 girls, 471 boys - Eligible for free school meals
- 72.4% (currently eligible, census of January 2026)
Attendance
Overall absence
The share of possible mornings and afternoons missed, for any reason (authorised or not).
2024/25
Persistent absence
Pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible sessions.
2024/25
Sources: Get Information about Schools; DfE school census and absence statistics via the performance tables. What these figures mean.
About the school
- Type
- Academy converter (Academies)
- Phase
- Secondary
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Religious character
- Does not apply
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Opened
- 1 July 2025
- Local authority
- Sheffield
- Parliamentary constituency
- Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough
- URN
- 151851 (the DfE’s reference number for the school)
Source: Get Information about Schools (Department for Education). See the full record (opens in a new tab).
Admissions
For a place at the usual starting age you apply through your home council (where you live), even if the school is in another area — not to the school. You can usually name several schools in order of preference.
Apply for a secondary place (GOV.UK)
How school admissions work: deadlines, oversubscription and appeals.