Cherry Tree Academy
Pontefract, WF8 2HN · Wakefield local authority
Pontefract’s School Grade A better than 87% of towns in England
What stands out about Cherry Tree Academy
- Its own letter, D: Key Stage 2 results near the bottom of England’s primary schools (better than 5%)
- 39% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 23 points below England’s schools
- Room to spare: 233 pupils for 315 places
- 48% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (more than England’s 25%)
- Ofsted: Requires improvement, January 2024 (shown, not graded)
- Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026 (22 of 22)
- Homes in its postcode sector (WF8 2) sold for a median £190,000; Pontefract’s is £205,000
Results
DfE · Key Stage 2Reading, writing and maths 39%
Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 5% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Wakefield avg 63%
Each subject, 2025
Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 101, maths 100 (100 = the expected standard)
Disadvantaged pupils, 2025
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths: the 25 disadvantaged pupils and the rest, beside England’s schools
England’s figures are of its graded mainstream state schools, each school counted once; grammar schools are included, which is why the right-hand tail is long. Small cohorts are suppressed.
How hard is it to get a place at Cherry Tree Academy?
Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026.
In every year shown, every family who put it first was offered a place. The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. Waterton Academy Trust sets the admissions rules. Apply through Wakefield council’s coordinated admissions.
Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places
100% got their first choice
100% got their first choice
Pontefract and Wakefield, side by side
2023–2025All 98 graded primaries in Wakefield. Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually score lower, so a school above the crowd for its free school meals is doing better than its intake predicts. Pontefract’s schools are coloured by their letter.
Show as a table
| School | Letter | Free school meals | KS2 expected standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ark Larks Hill Primary School | A+ | 6% | 94% |
| Ark Carleton Park Primary School | A+ | 21% | 92% |
| Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant Academy | A+ | 7% | 91% |
| Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary School | A+ | 21% | 90% |
| Ossett Southdale Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School | A+ | 17% | 88% |
| Jerry Clay Academy | A+ | 7% | 87% |
| Rooks Nest Academy | A+ | 14% | 85% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane | A+ | 11% | 83% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate | A | 7% | 82% |
| West End Academy | A | 31% | 81% |
| Ossett Flushdyke Junior and Infant School | A | 17% | 80% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate | A | 10% | 80% |
| Ark Orchard Head Primary School | A | 23% | 80% |
| Ark The Rookeries Carleton Primary School | A | 18% | 80% |
| Simpson's Lane Academy | A | 54% | 79% |
| Middlestown Primary Academy | A | 15% | 79% |
| Ark De Lacy Primary School | A | 48% | 78% |
| St Giles C of E Academy | A | 17% | 78% |
| Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School | A | 19% | 77% |
| Newton Hill Community School | A | 8% | 76% |
| Stanley St Peters Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | A | 29% | 76% |
| The Vale Primary Academy | A | 21% | 76% |
| Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School | A− | 2% | 75% |
| St Michael's CofE Academy | A− | 41% | 75% |
| Stanley Grove Primary and Nursery Academy | A− | 11% | 75% |
| Grove Lea Primary School | A− | 19% | 73% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane | A− | 11% | 72% |
| Normanton Common Primary Academy | A− | 22% | 71% |
| Normanton Junior Academy | A− | 29% | 71% |
| Horbury Primary Academy | A− | 17% | 71% |
| Featherstone All Saints CofE Academy | A− | 16% | 71% |
| Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School | B+ | 14% | 69% |
| Walton Primary Academy | B+ | 9% | 69% |
| St Botolphs CE Academy | B+ | 27% | 69% |
| Willow Green Academy | B | 30% | 67% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract | B | 11% | 67% |
| South Hiendley Primary School | B | 36% | 67% |
| Crofton Junior School | B | 26% | 66% |
| England Lane Academy | B | 36% | 66% |
| English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | B | 32% | 66% |
| Ackworth Mill Dam School | B | 14% | 66% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Greenhill | B | 20% | 66% |
| Alverthorpe St Paul's CofE (VA) School 3-11yrs | B | 22% | 65% |
| Ossett Holy Trinity CofE VA Primary School | B− | 14% | 64% |
| Sandal Magna Community Academy | B− | 35% | 64% |
| Towngate Primary Academy | B− | 13% | 64% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Park Hill | B− | 42% | 64% |
| Outwood Primary Academy Newstead Green | B− | 42% | 64% |
| Ryhill Junior, Infant and Nursery School | B− | 21% | 63% |
| Castleford Park Junior Academy | B− | 24% | 63% |
| Darrington Church of England Primary School | B− | 7% | 63% |
| Gawthorpe Community Academy | B− | 26% | 61% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford | B− | 8% | 61% |
| Sharlston Community School | B− | 36% | 61% |
| Shay Lane Primary (J and I) School | C+ | 19% | 60% |
| Ossett South Parade Primary | C+ | 24% | 60% |
| Ackton Pastures Primary Academy | C+ | 18% | 60% |
| Sitlington Netherton Junior and Infant School | C+ | 12% | 59% |
| Wrenthorpe Academy | C+ | 9% | 59% |
| St Ignatius Catholic Primary School | C+ | 15% | 58% |
| Half Acres Primary Academy | C+ | 21% | 58% |
| West Bretton Junior and Infant School | C | 4% | 56% |
| Crigglestone Mackie Hill Junior and Infant School | C | 39% | 56% |
| Crigglestone St James CofE Primary Academy | C | 10% | 56% |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Moorthorpe | C | 29% | 56% |
| Wakefield Lawefield Primary School | C | 31% | 55% |
| Horbury St Peter's and Clifton CofE (VC) Primary School | C | 27% | 55% |
| St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School | C | 12% | 55% |
| St Helen's CE Primary School | C | 48% | 55% |
| St Austin's Catholic Primary School | C | 10% | 55% |
| Methodist Voluntary Controlled Junior, Infant and Nursery School: With Communication Resource | C | 19% | 54% |
| The Mount Junior Infant & Nursery School | C− | 37% | 53% |
| Hendal Primary School | C− | 34% | 53% |
| Wakefield St Johns Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior and Infant School | C− | 16% | 53% |
| Oyster Park Primary Academy | C− | 51% | 52% |
| Ash Grove Primary Academy | C− | 30% | 52% |
| Wakefield Pinders Primary (JIN) School | C− | 22% | 51% |
| Castleford Three Lane Ends Academy | C− | 34% | 51% |
| Upton Primary School | C− | 32% | 49% |
| Smawthorne Henry Moore Academy | C− | 31% | 48% |
| Featherstone North Featherstone Junior and Infant School | D | 19% | 47% |
| Holy Family and St Michael's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | D | 29% | 47% |
| South Elmsall Carlton Junior and Infant School | D | 34% | 46% |
| Airedale Junior Academy | D | 41% | 46% |
| Wakefield Flanshaw Junior and Infant School | D | 31% | 45% |
| Wakefield St Marys Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | D | 31% | 45% |
| Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School | D | 24% | 45% |
| Wakefield Snapethorpe Primary School | D | 45% | 45% |
| Featherstone Purston St Thomas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School | D | 47% | 44% |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | D | 37% | 44% |
| Fairburn View Primary School, Castleford | D | 52% | 44% |
| Moorthorpe Primary School With Inclusion Resource | D | 42% | 41% |
| Cherry Tree Academy | D | 48% | 39% |
| King's Meadow Academy | D | 47% | 39% |
| Fitzwilliam Primary School | D− | 27% | 36% |
| Newlands Primary School | D− | 49% | 35% |
| South Kirkby Academy | D− | 50% | 35% |
| Streethouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School | D− | 39% | 34% |
Who goes here
DfE school census, January 2025240 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.
Girls and boys
Cherry Tree Academy’s letter
Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.
How school letters are worked out
Each school’s measure is compared with every graded school in England of the same phase: for primaries, the share of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (DfE’s three-year average); for secondaries, Attainment 8 and the share with grade 5 or above in English and maths, each turned into a z-score against England’s schools and averaged. The letter comes from the share of those schools it beats, in the same bands as every grade on the site. The same method gives U.S. schools their letters, against their own state.
Graded: England’s open mainstream state schools with published results (grammar schools included, which select by test). Not graded: special schools, alternative provision, nurseries, 16–19 colleges, UTCs and studio schools, Welsh schools. Ofsted plays no part.
Ofsted inspections
Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.
Graded inspection: Requires improvement, January 2024.
Living near Cherry Tree Academy
For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.
Home prices in WF8 2, the school’s postcode sector
Pontefract property prices →Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025
By type, the 36 months to August 2026
Homes in WF8 2 sell for a little under Pontefract’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.
Schools within 1.6 miles
14 state schoolsLocation
Directions ↗Pontefract, WF8 2HN
Cherry Tree Academy: common questions
Is Cherry Tree Academy a good school?
By its published results, well below average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 5% of England’s primary schools (its letter is D), with 39% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: Requires improvement, January 2024.
How hard is it to get into Cherry Tree Academy?
For September 2026, 22 families put Cherry Tree Academy first and all of them were offered a place; 23 places were offered in all.
What is Cherry Tree Academy’s Ofsted rating?
Its latest inspection outcome is Requires improvement (January 2024).
How much do houses cost near Cherry Tree Academy?
Homes in its postcode sector, WF8 2, sold for a median £190,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (545 sales).
Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.
A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Pontefract’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.