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:
13. Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy
This Muslim faith, all-girls academy in Bradford was most recently rated 'outstanding' overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 54.6 – compared to a local average of 40.7, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
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14. The Morley Academy
This is a secondary academy in Morley, Leeds, which was found to be 'outstanding' in all categories in a recent Ofsted inspection. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 54.5 – compared to a local average of 45.4, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
15. Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School
Despite its name, this is a non-selective secondary academy in Otley, in the Leeds district. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was rated 'outstanding' across all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 54.5 – compared to a local average of 45.4, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
16. Allerton High School
Allerton High is a local authority-maintained secondary school in Leeds, which was most recently rated 'outstanding' overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 53.8 – compared to a local average of 45.4, and a national average of 45.9. | Yorkshire Evening Post
17. Garforth Academy
This secondary academy in Garforth, Leeds, was found to be 'outstanding' in all categories following a recent Ofsted inspection. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 53.1 – compared to a local average of 53.1, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
18. Beckfoot School
Beckfoot is a secondary academy in Bingley, in the Bradford district. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was rated 'outstanding' in all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 53 – compared to a local average of 40.7, and a national average of 45.9. | Google