One In A Million Free School Review 2026: Sport, Arts and Enterprise at the centre of the timetable

A small secondary free school with a deliberately distinctive shape, this is a setting where extended-day enrichment is not a bolt-on but a structural part of the week. The school positions Sport, the Arts and Enterprise as its organising themes, with enrichment running daily from 2:30pm to 3:30pm and a menu that spans everything from Ju-Jitsu and fencing to debating and school newspaper club.

The school opened in September 2013, and sits in Girlington, Bradford, serving local families for Year 7 entry. Leadership is clearly signposted, with Mrs Jane Hobbs named as Principal across the school’s published leadership information, and her move from Acting Principal to Principal documented through the school’s own governance and reporting materials.

The headline challenge for many families is not whether the school’s offer is interesting, it is the performance picture and improvement journey. The latest inspection outcome (June 2023) sits at Requires Improvement overall, with Good judgements for Behaviour and Attitudes and for Personal Development.

The school’s tone is shaped by two ideas that recur across its published materials. First, students are framed as “valued and unique”, and the school’s public messaging puts safety and belonging near the top of the agenda. Second, the organisation around Sport, Arts and Enterprise is not just branding. It shows up in how enrichment is described, how activities are curated, and how the school talks about participation expectations and recognition.

A small roll (mid 300s) tends to change the day-to-day feel in practical ways. It can make it easier for staff to know families well and spot patterns early, but it can also make staffing disruption more visible to students, because there is less capacity to absorb gaps without the timetable changing. External evaluation notes that behaviour and routines are generally understood and that students typically behave well, while also flagging that behaviour can be less positive when staffing is disrupted.

There is also a clear sense that the school values structured routines and consistency in classroom practice. A recently reviewed Teaching and Learning policy describes a school-wide approach that relies on regular monitoring activity and agreed “non-negotiables”, with leaders and heads of department taking responsibility for consistency. For parents, the implication is that this should feel like a school trying to make practice more consistent across subjects, rather than one that leaves classroom variation to individual preference.

FindMySchool’s GCSE ranking places the school at 3,721st in England for GCSE outcomes, and 35th in Bradford (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data).

The underlying GCSE indicators point to a cohort that, on average, is not yet achieving as strongly as many comparable schools. Attainment 8 is 30.8, and Progress 8 is -1.01, which indicates students, on average, made less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally. Ebacc measures are also low with an Ebacc average point score of 2.61 and 4.2% achieving grades 5 or above in the Ebacc measure.

What matters for families is what happens next. The most credible improvement story will show up as more consistent curriculum delivery across subjects, better early reading support for those who need it, and leadership monitoring that turns information into targeted action.

The curriculum story is mixed, and the nuances matter. The school’s own framework points towards structured teaching routines and a deliberate attempt to embed consistent classroom practice, including retrieval-style approaches and regular quality assurance activity. That kind of clarity can be helpful for students who benefit from predictable lesson structure, and for families who want to understand what “good teaching” looks like in practical terms.

However, the most recent inspection evidence describes uneven curriculum embedding across subjects, with some areas more stable than others. In subjects where leadership has been consistent, students are more likely to experience coherent sequencing and teaching that deliberately connects new learning to prior content. In other areas, the report identifies knowledge gaps that have built over time and inconsistent curriculum delivery.

One specific implication for parents is that questions at open events should be subject-level, not just whole-school. Ask how departments check whether students remember the intended content, and what targeted support looks like for students who have missed key building blocks. The school’s own emphasis on consistency provides a useful frame for those conversations.

Because this setting is primarily an 11 to 16 secondary phase, the main transition point is post-16. The school’s published materials emphasise careers education and building “student passports” through enrichment, including accredited elements such as Sports Leaders Award and first aid style training routes, as well as tracked volunteering hours. The practical benefit is that students can leave Year 11 with more than exam grades, including documented participation and experience that can support college applications and apprenticeships conversations.

For families evaluating fit, it is worth asking how the school supports Year 11 decision-making across academic sixth forms, FE colleges, and technical routes, and how guidance is personalised for students who are not yet certain. External evaluation highlights careers education and guidance as a positive feature.

Year 7 admissions follow Bradford’s coordinated admissions process, rather than a direct school application route for standard entry. For September 2026 entry, Bradford’s timetable opened online applications from 12 September 2025 and closed on 31 October 2025. Offers were communicated after the allocation date, with email notifications for online applicants sent on 2 March 2026, and letters sent after that date.

Demand is real. Bradford’s published guide for September 2026 entry records 269 applications for 75 places, and labels the school as oversubscribed. There is not a published “last distance offered” figure available here to anchor proximity decisions, so families should treat location as only one variable and read the oversubscription criteria carefully.

If you are shortlisting locally, it is sensible to use FindMySchoolMap Search to check travel time and practical commuting options, then pair that with a close read of the school’s admissions policy and Bradford’s coordinated process so expectations on priority criteria are realistic.

Open events are also part of the practical picture. For the September 2026 entry cycle, Bradford listed a Year 6 open evening on Thursday 2 October 2025 (4pm to 6pm), with a Principal presentation at 5pm. If you are looking at a later entry year, the pattern suggests open evenings typically run in the September to October window, but families should rely on the school website for the current calendar.

Pastoral work appears to be anchored in routine and clarity. The behaviour system is described in external evidence as understood by pupils, and bullying is described as rare, with incidents handled effectively. Pupils are also described as feeling safe.

Support for students with special educational needs and disabilities is referenced as a relative strength, with teachers given clear guidance on meeting needs and adaptation used so that students can access the same curriculum where appropriate. That matters because it suggests a school attempting to balance inclusion with curriculum ambition, rather than creating parallel pathways by default.

Safeguarding arrangements are assessed as effective, and the school’s safeguarding documentation sets out designated safeguarding leadership roles and clear escalation expectations.

This is where the school is most distinctive. Enrichment is positioned as central, running daily from 2:30pm to 3:30pm, with some sessions also available at lunchtime. The structure matters because it makes participation predictable for families planning pick-ups, clubs, or caring responsibilities.

The activity list is unusually broad for a small secondary. Examples include Ju-Jitsu, fencing, DJ’ing, debating club, science club, photography, first aid, Green Society, and a school newspaper club, alongside a deep bench of sport options. External evaluation also references archery, cricket and a library club as examples of extra-curricular activity.

A further point that parents sometimes miss is that enrichment is linked to recognition and tracking, including merits, awards, and the concept of a “student passport” that records accreditations and volunteering hours. The implication is straightforward: for students who find confidence through doing, performing, competing, coaching, or leading, this model can create regular opportunities to build identity and responsibility alongside academic study.

The school day begins early, with the site open from 8:00am and breakfast club available. Lessons run from 8:25am, and the published day structure indicates a 3:30pm finish. Enrichment is scheduled daily 2:30pm to 3:30pm, so families should clarify whether enrichment participation changes the pick-up time for their child on specific days.

For transport and travel planning, Bradford’s admissions guidance explains that the local authority uses GIS straight-line measurements to calculate home-to-school distance for admissions processes where distance applies.

• Inspection outcome and consistency across subjects. The most recent inspection outcome is Requires Improvement, and the evidence points to uneven curriculum embedding. If your child thrives on consistency, ask specifically how subject teams ensure gaps are addressed and teaching routines are stable.

• Academic indicators are currently a weak point. The dataset’s GCSE picture is challenging, with a negative Progress 8 score. Families prioritising high exam outcomes should scrutinise the improvement plan and recent trends carefully, not just the enrichment offer.

• A small school can feel intensified. Smaller cohorts can be supportive, but staffing disruption can have a bigger day-to-day effect than in larger settings, including behaviour stability in some lessons.

• Governance and structural change is imminent. The organisation has announced that the school will join Delta Academies Trust in February 2026. Trust transitions can bring new systems and support, but they can also mean policy changes that families should understand early.

This is a school with a genuinely differentiated model: extended-day enrichment every weekday, a strong identity around Sport, Arts and Enterprise, and a participation culture designed to build confidence and experience alongside classroom learning. The limiting factor is not the ambition of the offer but the current academic performance indicators and the need for consistent curriculum delivery across all subjects. Best suited to families who value a structured day, high activity participation, and a school that is visibly working through improvement priorities, and who will actively test the strength of subject-level teaching and support before committing.