Fir Vale Academy

About Fir Vale Academy

Fir Vale Academy is a mixed state secondary school in Sheffield for pupils aged 11 to 16, serving a community where academic outcomes have been a significant challenge. Within the local authority, it ranks 26th out of 29 secondary schools on Progress 8, placing it in the bottom half of Sheffield’s state schools. The top-performing peers in the area are High Storrs School, King Ecgbert School, and Tapton School, all of which achieve positive Progress 8 scores. Fir Vale’s Progress 8 score of -1.09 is well below the national average and significantly lower than the Sheffield local authority average of -0.4. This means that, on average, pupils at Fir Vale achieve nearly a full grade less per subject than pupils with similar starting points nationally. The school’s attainment 8 score sits at 25.5, and only 11% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths (the basics 95 measure), compared with 26.9% at the grade 4 threshold.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2022, the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, a rating it has held since its previous inspection in 2019. However, the inspection report noted some strengths: behaviour and attitudes, and personal development, were both rated Good. This suggests that while academic outcomes remain a concern, the school provides a stable and supportive environment for its pupils. The leadership and management, as well as the quality of education, were both judged to require improvement. The school does not have a sixth form, so all pupils leave at 16. The Progress 8 breakdown shows that the weakest areas are English and maths, both scoring around -1.18, while the EBacc element is slightly less negative at -1.1. Only 15.4% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects, and just 3.8% achieved a grade 5 or above in it.

Fir Vale Academy is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 academic year, with 213 applications for 189 places and 143 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.13. The school offers a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, music rooms, science labs, and a library, as well as clubs such as Debate, Orchestra, Gardening, Choir, DofE, Chess, Art Club, and Drama. Sports on offer include swimming, rounders, basketball, cricket, badminton, and tennis. The school has a comprehensive SEND provision, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a potentially suitable choice for families whose children require significant additional support, though parents should weigh this against the school’s current academic performance challenges.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Fir Vale Academy

Helpful Guides for Parents