Gooseacre Primary Academy, Rotherham
Gooseacre Primary Academy is a primary school for pupils aged 2 to 11 in Rotherham, part of Astrea Academy Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in March 2020. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in March 2025 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 39th-highest of the 67 schools in Rotherham with published results, and 9,396th of 14,452 across England. It was 90% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2020)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 80 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Barnsley (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Gooseacre Primary Academy in detail
Gooseacre Primary Academy in its own words
In its own words: "Gooseacre Primary Academy is located in Thurnscoe in South Yorkshire, close to Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. We currently have over 300 pupils on our roll and twelve classes in the school: Foundation Stage 1 and 2, three Key Stage 1 classes and seven Key Stage 2 classes."
Vision and values (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils at Gooseacre Primary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 74% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 78% and 79% in Barnsley and 77% and 75% across England.
Results were similar in 2024 (67% in reading, 74% in maths).
Getting a place at Gooseacre Primary Academy
For September 2026 entry, 53 families put Gooseacre Primary Academy as their first choice and 78 named it as one of their preferences, for 50 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 4 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Gooseacre Primary Academy
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to Gooseacre Primary Academy are The Hill Primary Academy (0.9 miles, Good, 66% reading, 72% maths); Sandhill Primary School (1.2 miles, Good, 76% reading, 83% maths); Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School (1.2 miles, Good, 70% reading, 55% maths); and Highgate Primary Academy (1.2 miles, Good, 82% reading, 80% maths).
Gooseacre Primary Academy's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.
The Hill Primary AcademySandhill Primary SchoolSacred Heart Catholic Primary SchoolHighgate Primary Academy
The trust
Gooseacre Primary Academy is one of 26 schools run by Astrea Academy Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's primary schools, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.
What parents say
16 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Gooseacre Primary Academy (as of September 2025): 94% would recommend the school, 100% say their child is happy there and 100% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (100%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (81%).
Who goes there
38.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 9.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (80%) and Black (6%).
In 2026, 67 pupils (17.7%) received SEN support and 10 (2.6%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Thurnscoe Rail Station, about 960 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).
7 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Merrill Road/Westfield Crescent (adjacent), 170 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Gooseacre Primary Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Gooseacre Primary Academy issued 1 suspension, 0.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from March 2020, 6 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's March 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Gooseacre provides an ambitious curriculum with a strong emphasis on reading and vocabulary that helps pupils become fluent readers and remember what they learn. The school creates a warm, safe environment where children thrive and develop positive attitudes to learning, supported by caring staff and strong behaviour expectations. Pupils develop into active, responsible members of the community through leadership roles and well-planned enrichment activities.
Key Strengths
- Ambitious and broad curriculum that is carefully adapted to meet pupils' needs, with strong focus on vocabulary and reading
- Calm, orderly behaviour with positive relationships between pupils and staff, making pupils feel safe and cared for
- Highly skilled early years provision that establishes positive learning routines and builds children's independence
- Quick identification and support for pupils with SEND, with regularly reviewed adaptations
- Strong personal development including leadership opportunities and age-appropriate understanding of British values and diversity
Areas for Improvement
- Some pupils in early writing stages are moved on too quickly before fully understanding spelling and grammar rules, leading to incorrect punctuation
- Persistent absence remains too high for some groups of pupils, meaning they miss important learning and opportunities
- Need to refine attendance strategies to reduce persistent absence further
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with staff taking pupils' concerns seriously and dealing with issues like bullying quickly.
Extracurricular Activities
Sports leaders programme, well-being warriors support system, visits and residential opportunities, breakfast club
Gooseacre Primary Academy is a warm and welcoming school at the heart of the community where pupils conduct themselves well and learning is rarely interrupted. The school has recently raised expectations through curriculum changes that emphasise vocabulary, with pupils' outcomes in national tests improving over time.
At a Glance
38.9%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
Yes
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
16 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has improved from 67% to 71% (2024 to 2025). Maths has remained stable at around 74% (2024 to 2025). Writing has improved from 60% to 71% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
27.0
Avg class size
24.8
Infant (KS1)
29.7
KS2
14
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Social & online
Keep up with Gooseacre Primary Academy
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Gooseacre Primary Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Gooseacre Primary Academy is in Barnsley; for families living there:
Apply to Barnsley for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 11
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 4
- Children hurt
- 1
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 11 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 7 slight.
1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot.
3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Barnsley is 11 (the median across 96 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Gooseacre Primary Academy
Will you get a place at Gooseacre Primary Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Gooseacre Primary Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Gooseacre Primary Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Gooseacre Primary Academy.
- Barnsley publishes last distance offered figures, but none for Gooseacre Primary Academy that we hold, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Gooseacre Primary Academy for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Barnsley got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
£9.99 once
One school, inc. VAT. Or £19.99 for up to three schools.
Pro £9 a month, every report included, cancel any time
A report for any school, plus everything else in Pro.
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
90%
Near capacity
314 pupils
350 places
36 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Rotherham
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Rotherham
Across Barnsley council
Places available
2,979
Applications
2,423
Got 1st preference
95.7%
Got preferred school
99.2%
All primary applications across Barnsley council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(4)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
67
SEN Support
10
EHC Plans
20.4%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
378
Total Pupils
160
Boys
218
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
16
Teachers
23.6:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£52,326
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,871
Per pupil
£2112k
Total funding
£182k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
6.0%
Overall absence
16.4%
Persistent absence
274
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
Gooseacre Primary Academy
Questions parents ask about Gooseacre Primary Academy
What are SATs results like at Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Of the pupils at Gooseacre Primary Academy who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 71% reached the expected standard in reading and 74% did so in maths.
What is Gooseacre Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Gooseacre Primary Academy's most recent Ofsted inspection, in March 2025, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in March 2020, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Gooseacre Primary Academy?
No fixed boundary. When Gooseacre Primary Academy is oversubscribed, Barnsley allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Gooseacre Primary Academy was not full in 2025: it ran at 90% of its 350 places.
How big are the classes at Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Classes at Gooseacre Primary Academy average 27 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Gooseacre Primary Academy has around 378 pupils on roll. 39% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Gooseacre Primary Academy?
6% of sessions were missed at Gooseacre Primary Academy in 2024/25. 16.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Apply through Barnsley's coordinated admissions process, naming Gooseacre Primary Academy on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 11 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 4 serious and 7 slight. 1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot. 3 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Barnsley is 11 (the median across 96 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Gooseacre Primary Academy?
Gooseacre Primary Academy is at Gooseacre Avenue, Off Merrill Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S63 0NU.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)