Some of Doncaster’s highest performing secondaries have demonstrated how good they are at what they do, with pupils surpassing the national average in their GCSEs grades this year.
The Government has now released the 2024/25 school year’s preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools. This year, the usual improvement-based Progress 8 scores were unable to be calculated due to past pandemic disruptions, and instead, the default metric available to compare schools is their Attainment 8 scores.
These are a purely performance-based figure derived from pupils’ results in up to eight GCSEs or similar qualifications. They can go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, with the national average being 45.9 this year - somewhere between the standard and strong passing grades of 4 to 5.
To celebrate the city schools that have done especially well this year, we’ve created a league table of this year’s top performers across the Doncaster Council area. We’ve only included those that whose average scores are higher than the national average.
But as grades aren’t the only measurement of what kind of learning environment a school provides, we’ve also checked to make sure each school included had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are set to change this month, but for now, we’ve made sure each school included had either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since.
Here were the 10 Doncaster schools which made the grade:
1. The Hayfield School
At the top of the list is this secondary academy in Auckley, just east of the city. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 52.4 – compared to a local average of 44.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
2. The Laurel Academy
Next up is this secondary academy in Mexborough, between Doncaster and Rotherham. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 50.1 – compared to a local average of 44.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. Ridgewood School
Ridgewood is a secondary academy in Scawsby, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 49.4 – compared to a local average of 44.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Hungerhill School
Hungerhill is a secondary academy in the Edenthorpe area. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 49 – compared to a local average of 44.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google