GCSE results 2026

Barnsley GCSE results 2026

Provisional 2025/26 results for 11 state secondary schools in Barnsley, 2,487 pupils. Barnsley ranks 100 of 151 councils for Attainment 8, which fell by 0.3 points on 2025.

Grade 5+ English & maths

48.7%

0.9 pts above England

Grade 7+ English & maths

12.6%

2.1 pts below England

Attainment 8

45.7

1.9 points below England

Council rank

100 / 151

By average Attainment 8

Barnsley at a glance

Highest Attainment 8: Trinity Academy St. Edwards (53.4).
Schools range from 37.2 to 53.4 on Attainment 8, a spread of 16.2 points, so the school you choose matters more than the council average.
Disadvantaged pupils averaged 35.8, 14.7 points behind their classmates (a wider gap than England’s 13.8). They did best at Horizon Community College (42.2).
Most improved on 2025: Outwood Academy Shafton, up 1.3 points to 43.3.

Every Barnsley secondary school, ranked

Ranked by Attainment 8 · 2025/26 provisional · E&M: English and maths

#	School	Pupils	Attainment 8	vs 2025	Grade 4+ E&M	Grade 5+ E&M	Grade 7+ E&M	Disadvantaged A8
1	Trinity Academy St. EdwardsChurch of England	171	53.4	—	80.1%	65.5%	25.1%	40.2
2	Penistone Grammar School	318	51.4	−2.2	78.9%	59.1%	16.0%	38.2
3	Darton Academy	186	50.7	−1.4	77.4%	66.1%	21.5%	40.4
4	Horizon Community College	370	49.0	−0.8	72.2%	53.0%	14.1%	42.2
5	Kirk Balk Academy	252	46.4	+0.4	70.6%	54.0%	17.5%	32.4
6	Outwood Academy Shafton	261	43.3	+1.3	64.0%	41.8%	9.2%	35.3
7	Outwood Academy Carlton	210	42.0	+0.5	66.7%	49.0%	5.2%	36.4
8	Barnsley AcademyChristian	169	41.6	−3.5	54.4%	35.5%	7.7%	33.9
9	Netherwood Academy	222	41.0	−1.6	58.1%	38.3%	7.2%	31.9
10	Astrea Academy Dearne	195	39.3	−0.9	58.5%	35.4%	8.7%	32.4
11	Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England SchoolChurch of England/Roman Catholic	133	37.2	−0.3	43.6%	23.3%	2.3%	28.8
	England average		47.6		66.8%	47.8%	14.7%	37.7

Disadvantaged A8: Attainment 8 of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years or looked after; blank where the school has too few to publish. Small year groups move more from year to year.

Barnsley against the rest of Yorkshire and The Humber

Grade 5+ in English and maths, 2026

Reading these figures

Attainment 8 is out of 90: a pupil’s grades in eight GCSE slots added up, with English and maths counted twice.
There is no Progress 8 this year (these pupils sat no KS2 SATs), so results partly reflect each school’s intake.
These are provisional figures; revised ones with re-marks follow in early 2027.
Source: Department for Education, Key stage 4 performance (school-level data). Council figures are our pupil-weighted calculation over state-funded mainstream schools; independent schools are not included.