West Yorkshire has demonstrated once again that it brimming with excellent secondary schools, many of which boast exceptionally high scores for student progress.
The government’s brand new preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools were released in December, after initially being delayed. Using this data, we’ve looked at the top state secondary schools across the Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield council areas for the 2023/24 school year, to create a league table of West Yorkshire’s very highest performers.
It’s based on their newly-updated Progress 8 scores, a unique figure based on GCSE results and other student achievements which helps to determine how quickly a school’s pupils are learning and progressing compared to peers from similar primary schools nationwide. Any score above 0 is positive, but we’ve selected only those above 0.5, considered ‘well above average’ - the highest band available.
Many of the high-performing schools featured also earned a spot in the overall league table for Yorkshire this year. Families who keep a close eye on school performance data will also likely recognise some from last year’s local rankings - including West Yorkshire’s top school - as well as some newcomers.
We’ve also made sure that all schools included on the list had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had passing marks across the board. This means that the quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding all met or exceeded government standards the last time the school was inspected.
Here were the 20 West Yorkshire secondary schools that shone particularly bright in the last school year:
17. Dixons Kings Academy
Dixon Kings is a secondary school in Bradford, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.53. | Google
18. The Farnley Academy
This is a secondary school and sixth form in Farnley, Leeds, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it too had a Progress 8 score of 0.53 - or ‘well above average. | Google
19. Ilkley Grammar School
This is a secondary school and sixth form in Ilkley. Despite its name, it is non-selective. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had a Progress 8 score of 0.53 - or ‘well above average’. | Google
20. Dixons Trinity Chapeltown
Rounding out the list is Dixons Trinity Chapeltown, an all-through school in Chapeltown, Leeds. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a Progress 8 score of 0.52 - squeezing it into the ‘well above average’ band. | Google