The students who picked up their GCSEs in August 2025 were in Y6 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. They began their secondary school careers on Zoom calls and separated from their friends. Even when lockdown measures ended, it truly hung over their entire secondary school careers.
Now, the latest ‘Attainment 8’ scores for England’s schools are out, showing the best and worst performing schools in Sheffield by GCSE grades in 2025.
Attainment 8s are a score schools get based on how well pupils have performed in up to eight qualifications, made up of a combination of English, maths, sciences, computer science, history, geography and languages, and other qualifications.
Alongside those are figures for how many pupils earned at least a Grade 5 in English and maths, as well as the number of pupils who entered 'EBacc' - shorthand for if pupils study English, maths, sciences, a language, and either history or geography.
They are not the official metric the Government uses to gauge how well a school is doing - but they do give a good insight into what kind of grades pupils get at each school in Sheffield.
Sadly, there will always be schools posting the lowest performances in the city, and the 10 listed below reported the lowest grades in Sheffield.
However, alongside each is a a reason the school has celebrated in the last two years - from a complimentary line from Ofsted inspectors, to new classrooms going up soon, to kind words from principals about their students.
1. Fir Vale Academy
Sadly, Fir Vale Academy has consistently rated as either the first or second worst performing secondary school in Sheffield. In 2024-25, it was the worst performing, with an Attainment 8 score of 25.7. One in five pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 7.4 per cent entered for the EBaac. The school was in the headlines in the last week over a disturbance, after which Principal Danny Bullock praised his pupils for showing "respect and kindness to members of staff and one another. They showed that they value the education and care our school provides. We are very proud of them." | Iconic Media Group Photo: Sarah Marshall
2. Chaucer School
It's been a positive year for Chaucer, no matter what the Attainment 8 scores show. In April 2025, the Parson Cross school shook off an Inadequate rating it was dealt in 2022, and told it has a "more ambitious and better sequenced curriculum." Sadly, it is consistently rated as either the first or second worst performing secondary school in Sheffield, along with Fir Vale. In 2024-25, it produced an Attainment 8 score of 29.3. One in six pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 11.4 per cent entered for the EBaac. | Google
3. Lift Firth Park
Tehillah Mlotshwa opens her envelope to a grade 9, six grade 8s and two grade 7s at Lift Firth Park in 2025. In 2024-25, Lift Firth Park scored an Attainment 8 score of 32.7. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 35 per cent entered for the EBaac. | Lift Firth Park
4. Sheffield Park Academy
In 2024-25, Sheffield Park Academy earned an Attainment 8 score of 35.1. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 33 per cent entered for the EBaac. The school is set to receive £7m to create 30 extra places in five different year groups, as well as extend and alter classrooms, refurbish the library and make changes to the toilets. | National World