West Yorkshire is home to plenty of excellent, high-performing secondary schools, and new data shows many of them are helping their pupils achieve especially well in their GCSEs.
The Department for Education has released its new preliminary 2024/25 key stage 4 performance figures for state-funded secondary schools - meaning the country’s best performing schools of most recent academic year can now be named. These look a little different from usual this year, too.
Schools have been sorted using their Attainment 8 score - a purely performance-based figure derived from learners’ results in up to eight GCSE subjects - rather than the usual improvement-based Progress 8 score. This couldn’t be calculated, due to pandemic disruptions this cohort of learners faced.
To help local parents out, we’ve taken a look at the schools across West Yorkshire with the highest Attainment 8 scores this year. These scores go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, and we’ve limited our list to those which surpassed 50.
Grades aren’t the only way to measure school success, so we’ve also made sure each one on our league table had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are soon set to change, but for now, we’ve only included schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since. This means that quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded official standards.
Here were the 26 schools in West Yorkshire that topped the table:
1. Heckmondwike Grammar School
At the top of the list is this selective secondary academy in Heckmondwike, in the Kirklees borough. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had one of the highest Attainment 8 scores in the country at 80.1 – compared to a local average of 46.3, and a national average of 45.9 | Google
2. The Crossley Heath School
Next up is this selective secondary academy in Halifax, in the Calderdale borough. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 74.2 – compared to a local average of 48.6, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. The North Halifax Grammar School
Another selective secondary academy is Halifax, Calderdale. The North Halifax Grammar School was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 68.4 – compared to a local average of 48.6, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Holmfirth High School
This is a local authority-maintained secondary school in Holmfirth, in the Kirklees borough. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 58.3 – compared to a local average of 46.3, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
5. Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School
Cardinal Heenan is a maintained Catholic secondary school in Leeds. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 58 – compared to a local average of 45.4, and a national average of 45.9 | Google
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6. Horsforth School
This is a secondary academy in Horsforth, Leeds. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 57.2 – compared to a local average of 45.4, and a national average of 45.9. | Glen Minikin/SWNS