Shirebrook Academy

About Shirebrook Academy

Shirebrook Academy’s most recent Ofsted inspection in April 2025 marked a significant turnaround, with the school judged Good across all four graded categories — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This is a clear step up from its previous inspection in December 2022, when the school was rated Requires Improvement overall. The most telling exam metric is Progress 8, which measures how much pupils improve between the end of primary school and GCSEs compared with peers nationally. Shirebrook’s Progress 8 score stands at -0.34, placing it in the ‘Below average’ banding. That figure is notably lower than the Derbyshire local authority average of -0.11, and the school ranks 31st out of 46 secondary schools in the county. In the Bolsover district specifically, it sits 4th out of 4 schools, which gives a clear picture of the local competitive landscape.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 GCSE results, the school’s Attainment 8 score — the average grade achieved across eight subjects — is 39.6, which is roughly equivalent to a high 4 or low 5 in old GCSE grades. Just under 40% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, while 60.7% achieved a grade 4 or above in those core subjects. The English Baccalaureate entry rate is 29.8%, with 13.7% of pupils achieving the full EBacc at grade 5 or above. Drilling into the Progress 8 breakdown, maths stands out as a relative strength with a score of 0.11, meaning pupils here make slightly more progress in maths than the national average. English is weaker at -0.22, and open subjects and EBacc subjects are both below -0.5. The school’s EBacc average point score is 3.44, which is modest but reflects the challenge of serving a cohort where 42% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Shirebrook Academy is a mixed 11-16 secondary school in Bolsover, Derbyshire, with 812 pupils on roll against a capacity of 850. It was oversubscribed for 2025/26, receiving 207 applications for 163 places, with 156 first-preference offers made from 160 first-preference applications — a ratio of 1.27 applicants per place. The school offers a wide range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, sports hall, gymnasium, and dedicated art studios and music rooms. Clubs include chess, coding, gardening, debate, orchestra, and eco club, while sports on offer range from hockey and cricket to dance and gymnastics. SEND provisions cover eight areas including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. Parent View responses from 40 families between September 2024 and September 2025 show mixed satisfaction: 73% would not recommend the school, and only 28% would. The strongest positive responses were around the range of subjects (55% agree) and clubs and activities (50% agree), while concerns were most acute around SEND support and communication about pupil progress. This is a school that has made real progress in its Ofsted rating but still faces challenges in translating that into consistently strong outcomes and parent confidence.

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