West Yorkshire has demonstrated once again that it brimming with excellent secondary schools, many of which boast exceptionally high scores for student progress.
The government’s brand new preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools were released in December, after initially being delayed. Using this data, we’ve looked at the top state secondary schools across the Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield council areas for the 2023/24 school year, to create a league table of West Yorkshire’s very highest performers.
It’s based on their newly-updated Progress 8 scores, a unique figure based on GCSE results and other student achievements which helps to determine how quickly a school’s pupils are learning and progressing compared to peers from similar primary schools nationwide. Any score above 0 is positive, but we’ve selected only those above 0.5, considered ‘well above average’ - the highest band available.
Many of the high-performing schools featured also earned a spot in the overall league table for Yorkshire this year. Families who keep a close eye on school performance data will also likely recognise some from last year’s local rankings - including West Yorkshire’s top school - as well as some newcomers.
We’ve also made sure that all schools included on the list had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had passing marks across the board. This means that the quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding all met or exceeded government standards the last time the school was inspected.
Here were the 20 West Yorkshire secondary schools that shone particularly bright in the last school year:
13. Boston Spa Academy
This is a secondary school and sixth form in the village of Boston Spa, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.56. | Google
14. Carr Manor Community School
Carr Manor is an all-through school in Leeds. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.56. | Google
15. Shelley College
Shelley College is an upper school and sixth form between Shelley and Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield, which takes pupils from the age of 13. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, it once again had a Progress 8 score of 0.56. While this would usually be classed as ‘well above average’, banding was not applied due to pupils starting slightly later. | Google
16. The Morley Academy
This is a secondary school in Morley, southwest of Leeds. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had a Progress 8 score of 0.56 - or ‘well above average’. | Google
17. Dixons Kings Academy
Dixon Kings is a secondary school in Bradford, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.53. | Google
18. The Farnley Academy
This is a secondary school and sixth form in Farnley, Leeds, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had a Progress 8 score of 0.53 - or ‘well above average. | Google