Valley Academy - The School Companion

Valley Academy

Bradford · BD8 7DX

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 356 pupils, 52.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 21.6% on SEN support Behaviour 14.0% absence rate Staff 30.7% turnover Financials £8,684 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Valley Academy

General Information

Address: Cliffe Terrace, Bradford, BD8 7DX – View on map
Phone: 01274723439
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Jane Hobbs
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 45 families put it first for 71 places – 6 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 6 · 2024 8 · 2025 7 · 2026 6
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

356 pupils out of 375 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 188
% eligible for free school meals: 52.8%
Pupil mix: 8 in 10 (more mixed than the Bradford average)
English as an additional language: 67% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 30.7% a year (Bradford 19.1%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 51% moved to another school, 49% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Bradford: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 45 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 55 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 64 (1.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Bradford, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 14.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 39.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 21.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 24 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 20 pupils
Other difficulty or disability: 18 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 11 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 4 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Severe learning difficulty: 3 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card March 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Attainment 8 score: 38.7
Compared with the area: 2.9 points below the Bradford average (41.6)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (−5.9 points against an expected 44.6)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 62% (Bradford 58%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolBradford averageEngland↗ Improving Up 3.7 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 2.9 points below the Bradford average (41.6).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

21st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8

#19Titus Salt School40.9
#20Beckfoot Thornton40.2
#21Valley Academy38.7
#22Carlton Keighley38.6
#23Beckfoot Upper Heaton37.3

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Ilkley Grammar School56.5
#2Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy54.8
#3Beckfoot School53.0
#4Dixons Kings Academy52.7
#5Dixons Trinity Academy51.4
#6Dixons City Academy49.5
#7Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Bradford49.1
#8Bronte Girls' Academy48.9
#9Dixons McMillan Academy47.3
#10Dixons Cottingley Academy46.7
#11Bingley Grammar School46.5
#12Bradford Girls' Grammar School44.8
#13St Bede's and St Joseph's Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy44.5
#14Carlton Bolling44.4
#15Trinity Academy Bradford43.9
#16Belle Vue Girls' Academy43.2
#17Immanuel College41.9
#18Dixons Allerton Academy41.7
#19Titus Salt School40.9
#20Beckfoot Thornton40.2
#21Valley Academy38.7
#22Carlton Keighley38.6
#23Beckfoot Upper Heaton37.3
#24Parkside School36.7
#25Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy36.6
#26Laisterdyke Leadership Academy36.1
#27Beckfoot Oakbank35.3
#28Appleton Academy35.1
#29Hanson Academy35.1
#30Bradford Academy33.1
#31Bradford Forster Academy32.7
#32Oasis Academy Lister Park31.6
#33Co-op Academy Grange29.1
#34The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy28.8
#35Tong Leadership Academy26.4

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 81.0%
Went into further education: 81.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
Science Double Award
English Literature
History
Religious Studies
Geography
Computer Science
Art & Design
Biology
Spanish

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,684 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

10th of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for spending per pupil

#8Bradford Forster Academy£8,866
#9Appleton Academy£8,777
#10Valley Academy£8,684
#11Belle Vue Girls' Academy£8,545
#12Hanson Academy£8,453

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Carlton Keighley£10,316
#2The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy£10,145
#3Tong Leadership Academy£9,949
#4Co-op Academy Grange£9,851
#5Titus Salt School£9,691
#6Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy£9,397
#7Bradford Academy£9,129
#8Bradford Forster Academy£8,866
#9Appleton Academy£8,777
#10Valley Academy£8,684
#11Belle Vue Girls' Academy£8,545
#12Hanson Academy£8,453
#13Beckfoot Upper Heaton£8,375
#14Beckfoot Oakbank£8,037
#15Carlton Bolling£7,917
#16Oasis Academy Lister Park£7,870
#17Parkside School£7,846
#18St Bede's and St Joseph's Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy£7,826
#19Beckfoot Thornton£7,779
#20Laisterdyke Leadership Academy£7,777
#21Dixons Kings Academy£7,749
#22Beckfoot School£7,686
#23Bradford Girls' Grammar School£7,604
#24Immanuel College£7,578
#25Dixons Cottingley Academy£7,516
#26Dixons City Academy£7,493
#27Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Bradford£7,467
#28Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy£7,312
#29Trinity Academy Bradford£7,300
#30Dixons Trinity Academy£7,220
#31Ilkley Grammar School£7,182
#32Dixons Allerton Academy£7,119
#33Bingley Grammar School£7,023
#34Dixons McMillan Academy£6,925
#35Bronte Girls' Academy£6,794

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Bradford: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered