School communities in and around Wakefield have plenty to celebrate this year, with many local secondaries and their pupils soaring well above the national average in their GCSE results.
Last month, the Government released the preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools for the most recent, 2024/25 school year. But this year, the usual improvement-based Progress 8 scores were nowhere to be seen - unable to be calculated due to the pandemic disruptions this cohort of learners faced back in primary school.
Instead, the default metric used to compare schools is their Attainment 8 scores - a purely performance-based figure derived from pupils’ results in up to eight GCSEs. These scores go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades. The national average was 45.9 this year, or somewhere between the standard and strong passing grades of 4 to 5.
To recognise the local schools that managed to do particularly well despite the pandemic-era hurdles its pupils experienced, we’ve created a league table of this year’s highest achievers across the Wakefield Council area - featuring only those with scores above the national average. In cases where two schools had the same score, they have been ordered alphabetically.
Of course, grades aren’t the only measure of what sort of learning environment a school provides. That’s why we’ve also checked to make sure each one included on our list had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are set to change this month, but for now, we’ve only made sure schools had either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since.
Here were the 11 Wakefield schools which made the cut:
7. Outwood Grange Academy
This is a secondary academy in Outwood, just north of Wakefield. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 47.2 – compared to a local average of 45 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
8. Kettlethorpe High School
This is a local authority-maintained secondary school in the Kettlethorpe area, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 46.8 – compared to a local average of 45 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
9. St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College
St Wilfrid’s is a Catholic secondary academy in Featherstone, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 46.7 – compared to a local average of 45 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
10. Crofton Academy
This is a secondary academy in Crofton, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 46.4 – compared to a local average of 45 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
11. St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School
Rounding out the list as the Wakefield area’s last school to perform above the national average is St Thomas à Becket, a Catholic secondary academy in the Sandal Magna area. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 46.3 – compared to a local average of 45 and a national average of 45.9. | Google