SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Stafford, Staffordshire

Sir Graham Balfour High School

North Avenue, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST16 1NR

Sixth form
School website 01785223490

Ofsted

Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 9 October 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

45 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

38% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

57% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.1 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

36% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.17confidence interval -0.39 to 0.04

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
36.1

England average 32.3

A level students
35

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1003
Places
1042
How full
Nearly full — 1003 of 1042 places taken
Girls / boys
497 / 506
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
23%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
21%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
8%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
15%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
90%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
86%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
25%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
166

After sixth form

Went to university
45%

England 50%

In education, work or training
96%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
9%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
55

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

22% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
80%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
46

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Stafford 006B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
31%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
15%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
89%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
12%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
INSIGHT MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Matthew Mason
Local authority
Staffordshire
Ward
Common
Constituency
Stafford
URN
142983

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Blessed William Howard Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 52 2 mi
The Yarlet SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.3 mi
King Edward VI High SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 33.4 2.3 mi
The Weston Road AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 44.7 2.3 mi
Stafford Manor High SchoolFoundation school No grade 30.6 3 mi
Stafford Grammar SchoolOther independent school No grade 3.1 mi
Walton High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.6 3.7 mi
Walton Priory Middle SchoolCommunity school No grade 4.5 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
St Benedict's Catholic CollegeVoluntary aided school Good 2023 54.7
The Priory Academy LSSTAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 53.9
Harris Academy FalconwoodAcademy sponsor led No grade 47.3
Shoreham AcademyAcademy sponsor led Outstanding 2024 54.8
Fort Pitt Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 65.9
King Alfred'sAcademy converter No grade 45.4
St Bernard's High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 54.9
Maharishi Free SchoolFree schools No grade 54.1

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.