Sunday Times Parent Power: Sheffield's Tapton School tops list of North's best 10 comprehensive schools
A Sheffield secondary has been named the North’s top Comprehensive School of the Year in the Sunday Times' Parent Power list.
Tapton School, in Darwin Lane, was crowned in the national newspaper’s list of ‘top comp in the North’ for 2026, and also third in its list of best state secondary schools in the region.
And it was not even Sheffield’s only appearance on both lists, with High Storrs School and Silverdale School both making the cut.
It comes after Tapton - which also ranked as the joint 133rd best school nationally - posted “one of its best years ever” on A-Level Results Day in August, and was rated Outstanding in all areas by Ofsted in January.
Former headteacher and now executive director Kathyrn Rhodes told The Star: “We’re absolutely thrilled. The main thing for me is Tapton has been a comprehensive since it opened in 1960, and to receive comprehensive school of the year in the guide really resonates for us all.
“We have a great deal of strength in our diversity. Whilst we are situated in a leafy suburb we draw from lots of communities all over Sheffield, and we believe everyone can achieve excellence at Tapton.
“I’ll be going to the newsagents to buy a copy of the paper, and at some point we’ll have a gathering to celebrate everyone’s hard work, because it has been a team effort.”
Although there will be no Progress 8 reports this year as an aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the measure many parents wait for to choose the best schools in the country is the annual Sunday Times Parent Power Guide.
Referring to itself as "widely acknowledged as the most authoritative survey of the country’s top schools," the national paper uses its own ranking system based on 2025 GCSE & A-Level exam results, an analysis of its curriculum and its ethos to create its own list of the top 1,000 schools in the country.
High Storrs and Silverdale School placed 6th and 7th respectively on the list of top comprehensive schools in the North.
Jim Smith, Headteacher of Silverdale School: “I am incredibly proud of our staff and students at Silverdale [for this] outstanding achievement.
“Silverdale is about developing the whole student, and academic achievement is a huge part of that journey. Our students are talented, ambitious, and committed, and they are supported every day by dedicated staff who help them be the very best they can be. This recognition reflects the collective hard work, belief, and high standards that define Silverdale.”