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:
19. Woodkirk Academy
This secondary academy in Tingley, in the Leeds district, was most recently rated 'good' overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 52.8 – compared to a local average of 53.1, and a national average of 45.9 | Google
20. Dixons Kings Academy
This is a secondary academy in Bradford, which was most recently rated 'outstanding' overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 52.6 – compared to a local average of 40.7, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
21. Shelley College, A Share Academy
Shelley College is a secondary academy in Huddersfield, Kirklees. In a recent Ofsted report, it was rated 'outstanding' in all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 51.2 – compared to a local average of 46.3, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
22. Dixons Trinity Academy
This secondary academy in Bradford 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 51.1 – compared to a local average of 40.7, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
23. Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College
This secondary academy in Ossett, in the Wakefield district, was most recently rated 'good' overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 50.9 – compared to a local average of 45, and a national average of 45.9. | Google
24. Salendine Nook High School Academy
This secondary academy in Huddersfield, Kirklees, was rated 'good' overall in its most recent Ofsted inspection. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 50.7 – compared to a local average of 46.3, and a national average of 45.9. | Google