Holgate School, Barnsley

In 1978 it became a fully co-educational comprehensive school, having first admitted its first comprehensive first year intake in 1973. The sixth form went soon after, in 1980.

• Frank Atkinson CBE, Director from 1970 to 1987 of Beamish Museum, President from 1974 to 1975 of the Museums Association
• Denis Barker, former BP executive
• Frederick Woodward Branson, X-ray pioneer
• Sir Stuart Burgess CBE, Chairman from 1995 to 2004 of Finsbury Worldwide Pharmaceutical
• Dave Burland, folk singer
• Donald Chapman, Baron Northfield, Labour MP from 1951 to 1970 for Birmingham Northfield
• Prof Norman Chapman, G. F. Grant Professor of Chemistry from 1956 to 1992 at the University of Hull
• Prof Gordon Cherry, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning from 1976 to 1991 at the University of Birmingham
• Prof John Coyne CBE, Vice Chancellor from 2004 to 2015 of the University of Derby, Chairman since 2017 of British Canoeing
• Prof Donald Davie, poet
• Brian Fieldhouse, Chief Executive from 1990 to 1995 of West Sussex County Council
• Brian Glover, actor
• Michael Green, Controller from 1986 to 1996 of BBC Radio 4, and Chairman from 1990 to 1995 of the Radio Academy
• Jimmy Greenhoff, and his brother Brian, footballers
• Prof Alan Hall FRS, Director of Cell Biology from 2006 to 2015 at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Harry Hill, Chief Executive from 1998 to 2007 of Countrywide plc, and founded Rightmove in 2000
• Sir Ronald Holroyd FRS, former ICI executive, President in 1965 of the Society of Chemical Industry
• Flight Sergeant David Horsfall (16 April 1920 - 17 May 1943), who flew on the Dambusters Raid as a Flight Engineer in Lancaster AJ-A with pilot Squadron Leader Dinghy Young DFC; the aircraft was the fourth to bomb the Möhne Dam, but was hit by flak when returning near the Dutch coast at Castricum aan Zee; he is buried at Bergen General Cemetery
• Eric Illsley, Labour MP from 1987 to 2011 for Barnsley Central, convicted of fraud in the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
• Tom Johnson, footballer
• John Malcolm, actor
• Martyn Moxon, Director of Pro Cricket at Yorkshire CCC, Yorkshire and England cricketer
• Sir Michael Parkinson, broadcaster and journalist
• Jack Pickering, footballer
• William Prior CBE, Chairman from 1979 to 1984 of the Yorkshire Electricity Board
• Paul Quinn, lead guitarist of Saxon
• William Rayner, novelist
• Neil Rhodes, Chief Constable from 2012 to 2017 of Lincolnshire Police
• Stan Richards, actor best known for playing the role of Seth Armstrong in the soap opera Emmerdale from 1978 to 2004
• Denis Roberts, former Managing Director at the GPO, and Chairman from 1981 to 1985 of the British Philatelic Trust
• Dave Rollitt, rugby union player
• Prof Harry Rothwell, Professor of History from 1945 to 1968 at the University of Southampton
• Rev Canon Geoffrey Shaw, Principal from 1979 to 1989 at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
• William Taylor CBE, Conservative MP from 1950 to 1964 for Bradford North
• Howard Thackstone, Chief General Manager from 1962 to 1966 of Midland Bank
• Norman West, Labour MEP from 1984 to 1998 for Yorkshire South
• David Woodhall CBE, Chief Executive from 1982 to 1992 of the Commission for New Towns (became English Partnerships)
• George Wright (bishop), Anglican Bishop of Sierra Leone