The summer secondary school exam season no longer seems so far in the future, and this year’s GCSE candidates will soon need to start thinking about what comes next.
For many of them, this will be their A Levels - qualifications that can have a big impact on their opportunities after school. A Levels can also mean a change of school for some students, to either a dedicated sixth form college, or a completely new secondary school.
Last month, the Government released the latest A Level performance figures for state-funded sixth form colleges and secondary schools, meaning England’s top A Level performers were finally able to be named. We’ve used this new data to compare how those across West Yorkshire’s various council areas did - to create a league table of the county’s stand-out sixth forms in the 2023/24 school year.
We have ranked them by their A Level performance point scores, a unique measurement derived from exam results that gives them a score out of 60. You’ll also see the overall ‘average grades’ each school’s students achieved across their A Level entries. We’ve only included West Yorkshire’s top performers - those with at least a B- average. Many of these schools did so well, that they also made the overall top sixth forms list for all of Yorkshire.
We also checked that each school included had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had at least ‘good’ grades across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management and student safeguarding were all found to meet or exceed government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here were the 16 sixth form schools and colleges that made the cut:
1. CAPA College
CAPA is a sixth form college specialising in the performing arts, in Wakefield. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an excellent A Level point score of 42.26 - giving it an average grade of B+. | Google
2. Allerton High School
Allerton High is a local authority-maintained secondary school and sixth form in Leeds. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a fantastic A Level point score of 41.58 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google
3. Heckmondwike Grammar School
This is a selective secondary academy and sixth form in Heckmondwike, formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 40.22 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google
4. Horsforth School
This is a secondary academy and sixth form in Horsforth, near Leeds. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 40.21 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google