Kirk Balk Academy
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Barnsley
West Street, Barnsley, S74 9HX
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 21/01/2020
Application demand
96%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.4%
25.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,318
Capacity used
Over capacity105%
1,250 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
96%
1st preference success rate
246 of 257 families who put it first got an offer
264
Places offered
380
Total applications
1.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 257 | 246 | ● 96% |
| 2nd preference | 81 | 16 | ● 20% |
| 3rd preference | 42 | 2 | ● 5% |
| Total | 380 | 264 | 69% |
1st preference success by year
Barnsley lets families list 3 preferences. 11 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Hayley Craddock
- Address
- West Street, Hoyland, Barnsley, S74 9HX
- Phone
- 01226742286
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Ward / constituency
- Rockingham · Barnsley South
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 140979
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 30% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 1% | — | — |
| SEN support | 18% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST
1,318 pupils · 1,250 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
04 June 2025
Ungraded inspection
Standards maintained - 20
21 January 2020
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,367 pupils
Attendance
90.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.3%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.0%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 46.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.13 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 50% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 71% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.21 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 46 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 54.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 71.5% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 42.2% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.13 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 256 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 254 | 17% | 58% | 75% | |
| English Language | 254 | 18% | 56% | 73% | |
| English Literature | 254 | 28% | 70% | 79% | |
| Combined Science | 222 | 14% | 51% | 67% | |
| Geography | 156 | 26% | 58% | 68% | |
| Spanish | 110 | 4% | 53% | 71% | |
| History | 63 | 29% | 57% | 67% | |
| Art and Design | 57 | 26% | 54% | 77% | |
| Statistics | 37 | 35% | 68% | 81% | |
| Social Studies | 31 | 26% | 61% | 84% | |
| Biology | 29 | 41% | 86% | 97% | |
| Chemistry | 29 | 45% | 93% | 97% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Barnsley council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.