Oakwell Rise Primary Academy, Barnsley

Ofsted's report card from its 3 March 2026 inspection grades Oakwell Rise Primary Academy on 7 areas: 5 strong standard and 2 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils achieve consistently well across the curriculum and in national assessments."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have made highly effective decisions about curriculum design and teaching over time."

Early years - Strong standard. "Children in the early years experience an immersive, language-rich environment."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion is a thread that runs through all of the school's work."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders and governors know their school extremely well."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Overall, pupils' attendance is typically in line with national averages."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders ensure there is a coherent and well-planned programme of personal development."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue their work to ensure there is sustained improvement over time in the persistent absence of key groups, including those who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils develop secure and detailed knowledge across the taught personal development programme so pupils can apply this knowledge in a range of different contexts".

In its own words: "Oakwell Rise’s performance and data information is also recorded on the Department for Education performance tables. You can find this information on the DFE Performance Table"

From the headteacher's welcome: "I would like to offer a warm welcome to our school and what we often refer to as the Oakwell family. It is a privilege and honour to have served this community for nearly a decade as either a Headteacher or more recently the Executive Principal."

The school runs a breakfast club.

In 2025, 87% of Year 6 pupils at Oakwell Rise Primary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 87% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 78% and 79% in Barnsley and 77% and 75% across England.

Results rose from 77% in reading and 81% in maths in 2024.

With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.

For September 2026 entry, 34 families put Oakwell Rise Primary Academy as their first choice and 63 named it as one of their preferences, for 29 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 5 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state primary schools to Oakwell Rise Primary Academy are Queens Road Academy (0.4 miles, Good, 64% reading, 68% maths); Worsbrough Common Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 74% reading, 79% maths); The Forest Academy (0.7 miles, Outstanding, 74% reading, 74% maths); and Joseph Locke Primary School (0.9 miles, Good, 79% reading, 80% maths).

Oakwell Rise Primary Academy's 2025 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Oakwell Rise Primary Academy is one of 33 schools run by Wellspring Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's primary schools, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.

27 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Oakwell Rise Primary Academy (as of April 2026): 96% would recommend the school, 96% say their child is happy there and 50% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (96%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (50%).

39% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 39.4% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (49%), Black (17%) and Asian (5%).

In 2026, 32 pupils (13.6%) received SEN support and 15 (6.4%) 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.

The nearest railway station is Barnsley Rail Station, about 780 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Doncaster Road/Waltham Street (at), 70 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Oakwell Rise Primary Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 600 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Barnsley (121), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Oakwell Rise Primary Academy issued 1 suspension, 0.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to Oakwell Rise Primary Academy are Barnsley Academy (1.1 miles), Trinity Academy St. Edwards (1.1 miles) and Horizon Community College (1.4 miles).