A council (local authority) in Yorkshire and the Humber
In short: Most primary schools here are rated Good or better, fewer than across England. Results at 11 are close to England, and results at 16 were below England in 2026. Missing school is a bigger problem than across England.
Rotherham at a glance
How Rotherham's schools compare with England, area by area.
Primary and secondary schools are ranked by Eduscope score, which weighs up results, inspections, attendance and more. Nurseries, special and independent schools aren't ranked. A high score isn't everything: always visit.
96 mainstream schools in Rotherham, best first
Results well above the England average.
29 first choices, 28 offers made
Met the standard at 11100%
England 62%
Results well above the England average.
45 first choices, 30 offers made
Met the standard at 1193%
England 62%
Results well above the England average.
38 first choices, 30 offers made
Met the standard at 1183%
England 62%
16 mainstream schools in Rotherham, best first
Results close to the England average.
329 first choices, 332 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1648.8
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
208 first choices, 195 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1650.1
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
254 first choices, 146 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1650.3
England 46.2
64 in Rotherham, highest Ofsted grade first
Mexborough, S64 8QA · Nursery
Nurseries don't sit tests, so there are no results to compare.
Sheffield, S25 2QZ · Nursery
Nurseries don't sit tests, so there are no results to compare.
Rotherham, S65 2LY · State · Nursery · Ages 2 to 5
No published results yet.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
13 in Rotherham, by the school's Eduscope score
Results close to the England average.
329 first choices, 332 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1648.8
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
479 first choices, 322 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1649.7
England 46.2
Results close to the England average.
271 first choices, 277 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1644.5
England 46.2
10 in Rotherham. Eduscope doesn't rank these.
Rotherham, S61 2RA · Academy · All-through · Ages 5 to 19
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Rotherham, S66 8QN · Independent · All-through · Ages 5 to 18
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Rotherham, S66 8AZ · Academy · All-through · Ages 2 to 19
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
2 in Rotherham. Eduscope doesn't rank these.
Rotherham, S66 8QN · Independent · All-through · Ages 5 to 18
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Sheffield, S26 5QW · Independent · All-through · Ages 6 to 18
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Each dot is a school or nursery, coloured by its latest Ofsted grade. Point at a dot to see its name, or use the list.
Apply through the council where you live, even for a school in another council's area. Independent schools take applications directly.
Rotherham is a metropolitan borough in Yorkshire and the Humber with 96 mainstream primary schools and 16 mainstream secondary schools. Towns with the most schools include Rotherham, Rawmarsh and Wickersley and Bramley. Most state schools here are academies or free schools (87%), so many set their own term dates and admissions rules.
From Rotherham council's website, checked 7 November 2026. Check the council's pages before you apply.
If a date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, offers go out the next working day.
94.3%got their first-choice primary school in Rotherham in 2026. England: 92.4%. Ranked 53 of 151 councils. 98.5% got one of their top three.1.9% were offered a primary school in another council. England: 3.6%.
92.4%got their first-choice secondary school in Rotherham in 2026. England: 83.6%. Ranked 28 of 151 councils. 97.3% got one of their top three.1.7% were offered a secondary school in another council. England: 8.0%.
Source: DfE applications and offers, 2026. A low rate shows high demand, not poor schools.
27 of 75 primary appeals heard in Rotherham succeeded in 2025. 64 of 155 secondary appeals heard in Rotherham succeeded in 2025.
| Term | Starts | Half term | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn | 1 Sept | 26 Oct to 30 Oct | 18 Dec |
| Spring | 4 Jan | 15 Feb to 19 Feb | 25 Mar |
| Summer | 12 Apr | 1 Jun to 4 Jun | 21 Jul |
For schools that follow the council's dates. Academies, faith and foundation schools can set their own, and schools add training days. Source, checked 6 November 2026.
Pick a stage to see every Rotherham school for that age, with filters for type, faith and Ofsted grade.
Ages 0 to 4
All 51 inspected are Good or better.
64nurseries
Ages 4 to 11
90% Good or better. 60% met the standard at 11.
106schools
Ages 11 to 16
8 Good, 2 need to improve. 41% got grade 5 in English and maths.
26schools
1 Outstanding, 4 Good, 1 need to improve. About 8 pupils per teacher.
10schools
Here's how Rotherham's schools break down by type, faith and more.
The blue bar is the average Eduscope score of the primary schools in each town. The black line is the Rotherham average, 44.
Average primary score
61Rotherham 44
Average primary score
56Rotherham 44
Average primary score
36Rotherham 44
Average primary score
41Rotherham 44
Average primary score
37Rotherham 44
Average primary score
32Rotherham 44
Some areas, like parts of a bigger town, are easiest to find by postcode.
Inspections, exam results and attendance, next to the figure for England where we have it.
RotherhamEngland
Primaries rated Good or Outstanding
Latest Ofsted grade, 62 primaries with one.
90%
England 96%
Secondaries rated Good or Outstanding
8 of the 10 with a grade.
80%
England 93%
Met the expected standard at 11
Reading, writing and maths.
60%
England 62%
Close to England
Grade 5 or above in English and maths
At GCSE.
41%
Pupils who miss a lot of school
Missed 1 in 10 days or more. Lower is better.
20%
England 18%
Primary pupils on free school meals
A sign of family income, not of school quality.
29%
Latest graded inspection for the 82 schools that have one.
89%
Good or Outstanding
Rotherham in blue. There were no tests in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid.
The latest published year for each measure. Sources and years are on our data sources page.
| Measure | Rotherham | England |
|---|---|---|
| Good or Outstanding (Ofsted) | 89% | 95% |
| Met the expected standard at 11 (KS2) | 60% | 62% |
| Attainment 8 | 42.9 | 46.2 |
| Persistent absence | 20% | 18% |
| Pupils per teacher | 18.3:1 | 17.9:1 |
| Spending per pupil | £7,816 | £8,120 |
| In education or work after 16 | 90% | 91% |
| Went on to higher education | 49% | 56% |
| Pupils with special educational needs | 25% | 21% |
| Pupils with English as an additional language | 13% | 22% |
| Pupils on free school meals | 30% | 27% |
DfE local authority code 372, ONS code E08000018.
Rotherham has 188 schools and nurseries across 12 towns and villages, the biggest being Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Wickersley and Bramley and Swallownest and Aston.
Pupil numbers are about the same as in 2018.
29% of primary pupils here get free school meals. Schools get extra money for each of them.
Pupils in Rotherham's state schools each January.
Up 1% since 2018. More children can mean popular schools fill up faster.
Out of every 10 primary pupils, how many get free school meals. It's a sign of family income, not of school quality.
Rotherham29%
Follow any school and we'll email you when it gets a new Ofsted report or new results are out. Nothing else.
Rotherham has 188 schools, including 106 primary schools, 26 secondary schools, 64 nurseries, 2 independent schools, 10 special schools. Some count in more than one group. You can browse each category using the filters on Eduscope.
The highest-ranked schools in Rotherham on Eduscope are Woodsetts Primary School, Whiston Worrygoose Junior and Infant School, Aston Fence Junior and Infant School. We rank each state school against schools of the same phase across England on its Ofsted inspection, results and attendance. Independent, special and nursery schools aren't ranked.
89% of inspected schools in Rotherham hold a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating, which is below the England average of 94.8%. This includes 6 schools rated Outstanding and 67 rated Good.
Across primary schools in Rotherham, 60% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths at Key Stage 2. This is based on the latest published results from the Department for Education.
The average pupil-teacher ratio across schools in Rotherham is 18.3:1. While not a direct measure of class size, this indicates the level of teaching resource available per pupil. Across England it is 17.9:1.
The persistent absence rate across schools in Rotherham is 20.1%. A pupil is classed as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of school sessions. Across England it is 18.1%.
There are 44,794 pupils enrolled across schools in Rotherham, with 24,084 in primary and 20,255 in secondary. 30.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
There are 2 independent schools in Rotherham, all special schools for children with special educational needs, where councils usually pay the fees. You can compare them on Eduscope, including inspection reports where available.
Start by considering your child's age, your location, and whether you prefer a state or independent school. Use Eduscope to compare 188 schools in Rotherham by Ofsted ratings, exam results, and distance. Filter by school type, gender, religious character, and admissions policy to narrow your options.
Sources: DfE school performance tables, DfE school census and workforce, DfE pupil absence, Ofsted. Photos are stand-ins.
