Thrybergh Academy Review 2026: A clear improvement journey, with character building at the centre

There is a sense of reset at Thrybergh Academy. The leadership message is explicit about high standards, traditional uniform, and a no-nonsense approach to learning, while the wider offer is shaped by a structured character programme called the Thrybergh Way and Thrybergh Pledges.

This is a mixed 11 to 16 secondary school in Thrybergh, Rotherham. It sits within Wickersley Partnership Trust, and it has previously operated in different forms, including as an all-through arrangement prior to the current secondary model.

The latest Ofsted inspection, conducted on 12 and 13 September 2023 and published on 09 November 2023, judged the school as Requires Improvement across the overall outcome and each key judgement area. Safeguarding was judged effective.

Since 01 September 2025, the headteacher has been Mr Adrian May.

The defining cultural feature is the school’s language for expectations. The Thrybergh Way is used to translate values into daily behaviours, framed around aspiration, mutual trust, and collective responsibility.

Alongside this, the Thrybergh Pledges are positioned as a practical framework for personal development. They are organised into categories including Active Citizenship and Life Skills, and they are designed to broaden horizons through volunteering, charity, careers and aspirations, communication, wellbeing, and independence.

The official picture of student experience is mixed but specific. Students are described as feeling safe, and bullying is described as rare, while behaviour is uneven and low-level disruption can affect learning in some lessons.

There is also a visible emphasis on raising participation and reducing barriers, including a trust-wide uniform bank scheme aimed at supporting families who need help with essentials such as uniform and PE kit.

Performance data here points to a school working from a challenging baseline.

At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 29.2, against an England average of 45.9. Progress 8 is -0.67, which indicates students, as a group, made less progress than similar students nationally from their starting points.

In the FindMySchool proprietary ranking for GCSE outcomes, based on official data, Thrybergh Academy is ranked 3,787th in England and 13th in Rotherham. This places it below England average overall (within the lower-performing band nationally).

EBacc indicators are also weak in the available dataset, with an average EBacc APS of 2.43 versus an England average of 4.08.

What matters for parents is how those figures translate into day-to-day reality. The inspection evidence highlights an ambitious curriculum that is generally well sequenced, with improvement work underway, but with inconsistency in delivery and assessment that limits how securely students learn.

Parents comparing schools locally can use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to place these outcomes alongside nearby options using the same methodology.

The curriculum intent is ambitious, with reading positioned as a priority and new approaches introduced to build a stronger reading culture and support weaker readers.

In practice, the main issue is consistency. Some lessons build secure understanding; others remain superficial, with misconceptions not corrected quickly enough. That matters because it tends to widen gaps over time, particularly for students who need more structured checking for understanding.

SEND identification and support is described as established in many cases, but adaptation is not consistent in every classroom, so families with a child who needs reliable scaffolding should look closely at how support is implemented in lessons, not just the policy intent.

As an 11 to 16 school, the immediate “next step” is post-16 progression to sixth forms and colleges. The school’s careers programme is described as providing valuable work experience and helping students consider different training routes after Year 11, including technical routes.

For many families, this is the practical question to ask at open events or a guided tour: which local sixth forms or colleges are the most common destinations, and how the school supports applications and transition in Year 11.

Admissions are coordinated by Rotherham Local Authority on behalf of Wickersley Partnership Trust, which is the admissions authority for the school.

The Published Admission Number (PAN) for Year 7 entry is 140.

For September 2026 entry, the Local Authority booklet confirms the national closing date as 31 October 2025.

The same booklet explains that National Offer Day is prescribed as 1 March, and for 2026 the Local Authority will issue offers on 02 March 2026 because 1 March falls on a weekend.

Because distance cut-offs are not available in the provided dataset for this school, families should treat proximity as relevant but not rely on assumptions. If you are planning a move, it is sensible to use FindMySchoolMap Search to check your exact distance to the school gate and to review the Local Authority’s oversubscription criteria for the relevant year.

The school’s pastoral strategy is closely tied to its character framework. The Thrybergh Pledges explicitly cover wellbeing, relationships education, and staying safe, as well as wider life skills such as communication and independence.

Safeguarding is an area of reassurance in the current official evidence.

The more difficult pastoral issue is attendance and behaviour. The inspection evidence describes low attendance for a significant proportion of students and a high level of suspensions, which in turn reduces learning time and makes progress harder to secure.

The school positions enrichment as a central entitlement rather than an optional extra. Students are encouraged to build their Pledges through activities inside and outside school, including volunteering and active citizenship.

Specific examples in recent school materials include cultural trips and arts experiences, such as a Poetry Society workshop for Year 8 and theatre attendance for Years 7 and 8 at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre.

A distinctive feature is access to outdoor education through Wickersley Partnership Trust, including daytime access to Ulley Reservoir and activities such as raft building, kayaking, canoeing, and archery, as well as indoor climbing at a trust site.

The inspection evidence also references funded activities and experiences, with examples including outdoor climbing tournaments, boxing, theatre visits, and rock bands.

The published school day runs from registration at 8.40am to a 3.10pm finish.

For travel, the school highlights several bus routes with the nearest bus stop described as Park Lane and Vale Road, around a one-minute walk, including services 116 and X3. The school also notes limited parking and that gates to the car park are closed before and after school for safety.

This is a state school with no tuition fees. Families should still budget for standard secondary costs such as uniform, PE kit, and optional trips or music tuition where relevant, and the trust’s uniform bank scheme may be helpful where support is needed.

• Results are currently below England averages. Attainment 8 (29.2) and Progress 8 (-0.67) indicate that many students are not yet achieving the progress parents typically hope for at GCSE. This makes it important to ask how teaching consistency and assessment are being tightened.

• Behaviour and attendance remain key barriers. Low-level disruption, high suspensions, and low attendance for a significant group of students can undermine learning time. Families should explore how behaviour expectations are applied lesson by lesson, not only at policy level.

• The improvement plan is real, but still bedding in. The curriculum is ambitious and many initiatives are relatively new, including elements of the personal development programme. Parents should ask what has changed since September 2023 and what impact measures the school uses.

• Strong enrichment is available if your child opts in. Outdoor education and Pledges-linked activities can be a real strength, but it depends on participation. This suits students who respond well to structured targets and rewards.

Thrybergh Academy is a school with a clear framework for rebuilding culture, centred on the Thrybergh Way and Thrybergh Pledges, plus a distinctive enrichment offer through outdoor education. The challenge is that academic outcomes and consistency of learning remain below England averages, and attendance and behaviour still limit progress for too many students.

Who it suits: families who value structured expectations, character development, and practical enrichment, and who will engage closely with the school’s improvement priorities to ensure their child benefits from the stronger elements of provision.