The 16 Sheffield secondary schools performing 'below average' in The Telegraph's 2025 GCSE league table

These are the 16 secondary schools in Sheffield with a ‘below average’ or ‘well below average’ performance in 2025 - at least according to one national newspaper.

The Telegraph’s league table sees secondary schools ranked according to 10 separate criteria, which add up to a maximum score of 40.

The newspaper says these are “designed to highlight a range of key data points, measuring key academic, behavioural and organisational performance”.

In a year where secondary schools will not be receiving the usual Progress 8 reports - which have been postponed this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on standardised test results - some parents may see it as a useful measuring stick for how the city’s schools are performing.

Almost 3,500 state sector secondary schools in England feature in the league table, with just five schools across the country receiving the full 40 points.

The highest achieving school in Sheffield by The Telegraph’s estimates is High Storrs School, with a score of 38/40, followed closed by Mercia (37) and Silverdale (35).

However, as good as these results are, the starker pictures is that more than half of all of Sheffield’s schools were considered ‘Below Average’ or ‘Well Below Average.’

It reflects how last year’s Progress 8s - published in November 2024 - sadly showed Sheffield is largely lagging behind the rest of the country on average.

At the time, out of the 28 Sheffield schools with reported results, a total of 15 produced grades rated ‘below average’ or ‘well below average’ for England. Just nine had a positive score.

We have examined the league table to find the 16 secondary schools Sheffield that received the lowest scores and were classed as ‘well below average’ or ‘below average’ nationally.

Please note, these rankings should only be used as a comparative measure for GCSE performance.

Take a look at the gallery below and see how your child’s school performed.