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.
5. E-Act Parkwood Academy
In 2024-25, E-Act Parkwood Academy earned an Attainment 8 score of 36.5. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 23.7 per cent entered for the EBaac. On GCSE Results Day 2025, the school celebrated "improvements across all core subjects." | Google
6. Handsworth Grange Community Sports College
Handsworth Grange Community Sports College has suffered some turbulence in recent years, after losing an Outstanding Ofsted rating in 2022. A new report in June 2025 reads: "The school has recently made changes which show greater ambition for the way the curriculum is taught." In 2024-25, the school earned an Attainment 8 score of 36.6. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 29.4 per cent entered for the EBaac. | Google Maps
7. Oasis Academy Don Valley
In 2024-25, Oasis Academy Don Valley earned an Attainment 8 score of 36.6. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 29.4 per cent entered for the EBaac. Interestingly, in 2024, the school became one of the most oversubscribed in the city other than the high-flying Mercia, turning away 55 children to fill its 150 spaces. | Google
8. The Birley Academy.
In 2024-25, The Birley Academy earned an Attainment 8 score of 37.2. One in four pupils earned a grade 5 in English and Maths, and 28.8 per cent entered for the EBaac. In 2025, the school also received its first ‘Good’ Ofsted rating since 2013, with officials saying it marks a major milestone in the school’s transformation. | The Birley Academy