The school is located to the north west of Barnsley in the village of Kexbrough on the edge of the open countryside approximately one mile from junction 38 of the M1 motorway.

[citation needed] In 1957, buildings were opened at the current Kexborough site, which then became the boys' campus, with girls remaining at Darton.

In the 1970s, preparations for the changes to comprehensive education in the area, combined with the raising of the school leaving age led to considerable developments at the Kexborough campus.

By this time, the school catered for 11 pupils, with the first two years being spent at Darton, before moving to Kexborough.

In January 2010 Darton College was inspected by Ofsted, who rated the school Grade 4 (inadequate) overall and placed it into Special Measures.