Code: E08000016
Director of Children's Services: Carly Speechley


Summary of Ofsted findings

Summary of Ofsted findings

Inspection of Barnsley’s local authority children’s services

These inspections focus on the effectiveness of local authority services and arrangements:

  • to help and protect children, and enable families to stay together and get the help they need
  • the experiences and progress of children in care wherever they live, including those children who return home
  • the arrangements for permanence for children who are looked after, in stable, loving homes, including adoption
  • the experiences and progress of care leavers.
Inspection type Inspection start date Overall effectiveness Impact of leaders Help and protection Children in care Care leavers
ILACS Short Inspection 11 September 2023 Good Good Requires improvement to be good Good Good
ILACS Standard Inspection 8 October 2018 Good Good Good Good No outcome

Data source

Area SEND inspection of Barnsley Local Area Partnership

The purpose of an area SEND inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.
Inspection outcome

Barnsley local area partnership has not yet been inspected under the current Area SEND framework.

Data source

Joint targeted area inspection of Barnsley local authority

The agencies for these inspections can include the police, children’s social care, probation services, education and relevant health services. Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and childcare providers. The focus of these inspections is how effectively the local safeguarding partners work together at the practice and strategic levels.

Theme Inspection start date Link
There have been no JTAI inspections for this local authority.

Data source

Ofsted inspection reports and tools


Local authority context

Population 18 and under Number %
Barnsley 54,519 21.7%
National 12,869,368 22.0%

Data source

Children looked after Number Rate per 10,000
Barnsley 366 71
National 81,770 67

Data source

School-age pupils eligible for free school meals Number %
Barnsley 10,176 30.1%
National 2,085,168 26.7%

Data source

School-age pupils eligible for extra funding (pupil premium) Number %
Barnsley 11,080 33.0%
National 2,266,608 29.3%

Data source

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in state-funded settings Number %
Barnsley 6,582 18.6%
National 1,766,924 19.6%

Data source

School-age pupils with English as an additional language Number %
Barnsley 3,013 8.6%
National 1,806,029 21.4%

Data source

% of children in income-deprived families (IDACI) Average %
Barnsley 44.0%
National 38.0%
Health Index (children and young people) Health Index score
Barnsley 95.5
National 100.8
More details about the health index metric

Indicates the health of an area measured in three domains: Healthy People, Health Lives and Healthy Places.

A score of 100 represents health in England in 2015. A higher number means better health and a lower number means worse health.

Data source

Remit overview

Contents

Early years

Population Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
Aged 0 to 5 years 16,240 6.5% 6.4%
Aged 0 2,482 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 1 2,579 1.0% 1.0%
Aged 2 2,709 1.1% 1.1%
Aged 3 2,700 1.1% 1.1%
Aged 4 2,906 1.2% 1.1%
Aged 5 2,864 1.1% 1.1%

Data source

Disadvantaged Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
Early years pupil premium 456 2.8% 3.3%
Children looked after (under 1 year) 20 0.8% 0.6%
Children looked after (1 to 4 years) 44 0.4% 0.4%

Data sources:

Special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) /
Education, health and care plans (EHCP)
Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 2 and under) 4 0.1% 0.3%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 3) 90 3.2% 3.6%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 4) 246 8.8% 9.5%
SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5) 333 12.0% 12.3%
Total: SEN support in state-funded settings (age 5 and under) 673 4.2% 4.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 2 and under) 3 0.0% 0.0%
Children with an EHCP (age 3) 24 0.8% 0.7%
Children with an EHCP (age 4) 99 3.5% 3.5%
Children with an EHCP (age 5) 130 4.7% 4.8%
Total: Children with an EHCP (age 5 and under) 256 1.6% 1.6%

Data sources:

Funded early years places for 2-year-olds Population aged 2-years-old Number of eligible 2-year-olds % of population aged 2 % take-up of funded places
Barnsley 2,709 828 30.6% 62.0%
National 630,059 145,824 23.1% 65.2%

Data source

Funded early years places for 3-year-olds Population aged 3-years-old Number of eligible 3-year-olds % of population aged 3 % take-up of funded places
Barnsley 2,700 All 3-year olds are eligible 92.4%
National 625,948 90.6%
The 2 and 3-year-old funded places tables look different because they measure different things; funded places for 2-year-olds are only for children considered to be disadvantaged, while for 3-year-olds everyone is entitled to a funded place.

Data source

Children's overweight and obesity Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
Children's overweight and obesity (reception-age children) 685 26.4% 23.5%

Data source

Oral health Number examined in Barnsley % examined in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
Oral health (visible tooth decay in 5-year-olds) 252 8.8% 30.2% 22.4%

Schools

Population Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley1 % National1
Primary-age pupils (ages 5 to 11) 20,531 8.2% 8.2%
Secondary-age pupils (ages 12 to 16) 15,057 6.0% 6.2%

Data source

Population of looked-after-children Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley1 % National1
Ages 5 to 9 73 0.5% 0.4%
Ages 10 to 15 148 0.8% 0.7%

Data source

Pupils eligible for free schools meals Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 5,706 28.9% 25.3%
Secondary 4,197 30.8% 27.5%
Alternative provision 30 71.4% 64.6%
Special 243 59.0% 49.5%
Non-maintained special 31.0%

Data source

Pupils eligible for pupil premium Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 5,626 28.4% 25.1%
Secondary 4,456 32.3% 28.9%

Data source

Pupils with SEND Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 3,617 17.4% 18.2%
Secondary 2,268 16.3% 16.5%
Alternative provision 38 90.5% 83.4%
Special 460 100.0% 99.9%
Non-maintained special 99.7%
Independent schools 199 100.0% 24.1%

Data source

Pupils with English as an additional language Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 2,008 9.7% 23.4%
Secondary 969 6.9% 19.2%
Alternative provision 0 0.0% 7.6%
Special 36 7.8% 14.5%
Non-maintained special 11.0%
Attendance of all pupils up to week 4 of calendar year % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 95.5% 95.0%
Secondary 90.5% 91.8%
Special 84.6% 87.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals (summer term 2024/25) % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 92.0% 91.9%
Secondary 81.7% 85.2%
Special 80.6% 85.1%

Data source

Attendance of pupils with SEND (summer term 2024/25) % in Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 91.9% 92.1%
Secondary 79.6% 84.3%
Special 87.3%

Data source

Primary attainment: Year 1 phonics screening pass Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
All pupils 2,313 84.7% 79.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 514 78.6% 66.6%
Pupils with SEND 215 47.8% 43.4%
Pupils with English as an additional language 220 84.9% 79.5%
Primary attainment: Year 4 times table check (full marks) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
All pupils 1,437 50.4% 36.8%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 383 40.2% 27.4%
Pupils with SEND 143 24.5% 16.5%
Pupils with English as an additional language 157 59.5% 45.2%

Data source

Primary attainment: Key stage 2 reading, writing, maths combined (met the expected standard) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
All pupils 1,857 65.1% 62.6%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 523 52.5% 47.7%
Pupils with SEND 145 23.1% 23.8%
Pupils with English as an additional language 157 66.0% 66.2%

Data source

Secondary attainment: Attainment 8 Average in Barnsley2 National average2
All pupils 43.8 45.9
Pupils eligible for free school meals 33.1 35.0
Pupils with SEND 24.2 28.1

Data source

Population receiving education outside of their local authority Number outside of Barnsley % outside of Barnsley2 % National2
Primary 593 3.1% 4.1%
Secondary 1,089 7.6% 8.7%
Special 204 34.8% 9.0%
Children being home educated Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley1 % National1
Primary 170 0.8% 0.8%
Secondary 620 4.1% 2.5%
Total 800 2.3% 1.5%
More details about the children being home educated numbers
Local authority data in the source dataset has been rounded to the nearest 10. As a result totals may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Data source

Suspensions (from primary school) Number in Barnsley Rate per 100 pupils in Barnsley3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 136 0.7 0.9
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 74 0.4 0.5
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 42 0.7 (in group) 1.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 64 1.9 (in group) 2.4 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded primary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from secondary school) Number in Barnsley Rate per 100 pupils in Barnsley3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 2,607 18.6 7.8
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 915 6.5 3.8
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 591 14.0 (in group) 8.2 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 394 17.1 (in group) 9.1 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded secondary schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Suspensions (from special school) Number in Barnsley Rate per 100 pupils in Barnsley3 Rate per 100 pupils National3
Total number of suspensions 1 0.2 5.1
Total pupils with one or more suspensions 1 0.2 2.9
Pupils with one or more suspensions who are eligible for free school meals 0 0.0 (in group) 4.1 (in group)
Pupils with one or more suspensions with SEND 1 0.2 (in group) 2.9 (in group)
More details about suspensions from state-funded special schools and totals not summing
Suspensions data on total number of pupils may not match, as a change in a pupil’s category within the same term results in them being counted separately under each category. For example, if a pupil receives multiple suspensions while classified as not having SEN, and then receives additional suspensions after being reclassified as receiving SEN support during the same term, they will be recorded as two separate enrolments in the data.

Data source

Exclusions (from primary school) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 2 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 2 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 2 0.1% 0.1%

Data source

Exclusions (from secondary school) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 31 0.2% 0.1%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 20 0.5% 0.2%
Pupils with SEND 13 0.6% 0.3%

Data source

Exclusions (from special school) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley2 % National2
Total number of pupils excluded 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils eligible for free school meals 0 0.0% 0.0%
Pupils with SEND 0 0.0% 0.0%

1. % of all children in Barnsley / England.

2. % of all pupils in state-funded settings across Barnsley / England.

3. Rate per 100 pupils in state-funded settings across Barnsley / England.

Further education and skills

Population Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
Aged 16 to 18 years 8,465 3.4% 3.6%
Aged 19 to 21 years 6,373 2.5% 3.6%
Aged 22 to 24 years 7,335 2.9% 3.6%
Aged 25 years and over 183,543 72.9% 70.8%

Data source

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Number in Barnsley % in Barnsley % National
16- to 17-year-olds known to LA 5,735 2.3% 2.4%
NEET 224 3.9% 3.4%
Activity not known 130 2.3% 2.2%
Total NEET or activity not known 354 6.2% 5.6%

Data source

16 to 18 progression to higher education or training % in Barnsley % National
Degrees (all) 51.0% 66.0%
Degrees at top third higher education institutions 14.0% 24.0%
Higher apprenticeships 2.0% 2.0%
Other study at level 4 and 5 5.0% 3.0%
Progressing to higher education or training 59.0% 70.0%
More details about the further education and skills destinations data

This data reflects the destinations of pupils based on the number on roll when they were aged 16 to 18, tracking where they progressed after completing their studies.

Degree destinations include any study at level 6 or higher such as bachelor degrees, graduate diplomas, and post-graduate degrees. The top third higher education institutions when ranked by average UCAS tariff score of entrants across their best 3 A levels.

Higher apprenticeships are those from level 4 to 7 and are equivalent to a foundation degree and above. Degree apprenticeships are available at levels 6 and 7.

Other study at level 4 or 5 destinations include those students studying qualifications such as foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).

Data source

Social care

Explore the findings from Ofsted's local authority inspections.

Explore population characteristics for this local authority.