Wakefield’s state schools outscore 66% of towns in England
In GCSE English and maths, 55% of pupils in Wakefield reached grade 5 or above, above both West Yorkshire’s towns (49%) and towns in England (45%). 34 state-funded schools are located in Wakefield’s built-up area. Wakefield grades B+ for schools, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results: #36 of 91 in West Yorkshire. Ofsted is shown, not graded.
Wakefield’s secondary results beat 75% of English towns; its primary results beat 49%. 61% of the large town’s 11-year-olds meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England and 63% across Wakefield. The spread between primaries is wide: 87% at Jerry Clay Academy, 45% at Wakefield St Marys Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School. Every school’s result ↓
Popular schools are full
12 of 30 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as their official capacity, including St Thomas à Becket among the secondaries. A full school gives places by its admissions rules, usually by distance after siblings. Getting a place ↓
St Michael's beats its intake
Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually get lower results. At St Michael's CofE Academy, 41% of pupils are on free school meals and 75% meet the expected standard; a typical school in England with that intake reaches 57%. Results and intake ↓
Written from the Department for Education and Ofsted data on this page.
School Grade
Wakefield grades B+ for schools
Against every town in England with results; Wales publishes none.
Primary: reading, writing and maths at 11 (61% meet the standard)Better than 49% of towns in England
Secondary: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (48.7 and 55%)Better than 75% of towns in England
The secondary figure lifts Wakefield; the primary figure holds it back.
Each of Wakefield’s 25 primaries: % meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (2023–25)
Each of Wakefield’s 5 secondaries: Attainment 8 (2025/26)
England’s average schoolWakefield’s average school
The primary figure: 25 primaries in the town, 3,409 pupils in results over three years. The secondary figure: 5 secondaries in the town, 1,205 pupils in results. Mainstream state schools only (grammar schools included); special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19 colleges are listed below but not graded. Each school’s results are compared with every school in England, then weighted by its pupils.
Map
Where Wakefield’s 34 state schools are
Each school at its address, coloured by its own letter and sized by pupils. Open a school for its own page. The dashed shape is Wakefield’s built-up area.
PrimarySecondary (named)Special, nursery, 16–19Size: pupilsABCDNo letter
Most schools give places by distance once siblings are in, so the schools nearest a home matter more than any league table. The 5 secondaries are named.
Results and intake
Which schools do better than their intake suggests
Schools with more pupils on free school meals tend to get lower results. The dashed line is the typical school in England for each level of free school meals; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot above the band is doing better than schools like it.
Primaries: KS2 reading, writing and maths against free school meals
Secondaries: Attainment 8 against free school meals
The share of pupils on free school meals runs from 7% at Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate to 45% at Wakefield Snapethorpe Primary School. Against schools with the same intake, Jerry Clay Academy does best: 87% with 7% on free school meals, where a typical school would reach 67%. 13 of 25 primaries and 3 of 5 secondaries are above the line.
Free school meals: pupils eligible now, DfE January 2026 census. The typical-school line is a straight-line fit across every graded school in England. It describes; it doesn’t grade: the School Grade uses results alone.
Getting a place
How school places work in Wakefield
Wakefield Council handles applications for every state school in Wakefield, academies included. You apply to the council where you live, even for a school in another area.
Secondary (starting at 11)Apply by 31 October of Year 6. Offers on 1 March.
Primary (starting in Reception)Apply by 15 January before the September your child starts. Offers on 16 April.
Moving mid-yearApply to the council for an in-year place; it tells you which schools have room.
When a school is full
Every school publishes its admissions rules. Children in care come first, then, at most schools, brothers and sisters of current pupils, then those who live nearest. 11 of Wakefield’s 30 mainstream schools have a religious character; some of them give priority by church attendance, so check each school’s rules. Infant classes are limited to 30 by law. If you’re refused a place, you can appeal to an independent panel.
Pupils on roll as a share of the school’s official capacity. The black tick is 100%; 12 schools are at or over it.
Wakefield St Marys incl. nursery121%
Rooks Nest incl. nursery117%
Newton Hill Community incl. nursery113%
Alverthorpe St Paul's incl. nursery111%
Wakefield Flanshaw Junior and Infant incl. nursery111%
English Martyrs incl. nursery106%
Wakefield Pinders (JIN) incl. nursery104%
St Thomas à Becket102%
Outwood Academy Ledger Lane incl. nursery101%
Jerry Clay100%
Show all 30 schools
Outwood Academy Park Hill incl. nursery100%
Wrenthorpe100%
Wakefield St Johns100%
Methodist Voluntary Controlled Junior, Infant: With Communication Resource incl. nursery98%
Trinity Academy Cathedral98%
Hendal incl. nursery98%
Sandal Magna Community incl. nursery97%
St Austin's97%
Sandal Castle VA97%
Outwood Academy Greenhill incl. nursery96%
Stanley St Peters incl. nursery96%
Outwood Academy Lofthouse Gate incl. nursery94%
Wakefield Lawefield incl. nursery93%
Kettlethorpe High92%
St Michael's incl. nursery90%
Stanley Grove incl. nursery89%
Outwood Academy City Fields88%
The Mount Junior Infant incl. nursery88%
Outwood Grange86%
Wakefield Snapethorpe incl. nursery86%
DfE register of schools (GIAS), January 2026 census. Capacity often excludes a nursery class, so a school with a nursery can show over 100%.
The schools
34 state schools in Wakefield
Each school’s own letter compares its results with every state school in England of the same phase: Key Stage 2 for primaries, GCSEs for secondaries. Open a school for its results, how its letter is worked out, Ofsted and a map.
Letters of Wakefield’s schoolsA8B10C8D44 without a letter
Key result: Attainment 8 and grade 5+ English and maths (GCSEs, 2025/26 provisional) for secondaries; the share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (KS2, DfE’s three-year average) for primaries. Pupils: the January 2026 school census. No letter: an infant or first school (no KS2 tests), a new school, a small cohort DfE suppresses, or a special school, nursery or college. Independent schools aren’t included.
Ofsted
Ofsted report cards
Each school’s latest inspection; report cards replace one-word judgements as schools are re-inspected.
Outstanding 1Good 11Report card 3Requires improvement 2Ungraded inspection only 16No published grade 1
Ofsted stopped giving one-word judgements in 2024. Until a school is re-inspected, its last overall judgement is its most recent single grade; a school judged years ago may have changed a lot since.
Since November 2025 Ofsted gives each area of a school one of five grades (exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention, urgent improvement) and says whether safeguarding is met, instead of one overall word. 3 of Wakefield’s 34 state schools have a report card so far; the others show their last inspection under the old framework. Ofsted is never part of the School Grade.
Academies are state schools run by a trust rather than the council: the trust employs the staff and can set its own curriculum and term dates. Admissions still go through the council.
Run by
Schools
Pupils
Their letters
Outwood Grange Academies TrustOutwood Grange, Outwood Academy City Fields, Outwood Academy Ledger Lane, Outwood Academy Park Hill, Outwood Academy Lofthouse Gate, Outwood Academy Greenhill
6
4,425
B+BA−B−AB
Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy TrustSt Thomas à Becket, St Austin's, English Martyrs
3
1,291
B+CB
Enhance Academy TrustCAPA College, St Michael's, Sandal Magna Community
3
1,227
A−B−
Accomplish Multi Academy Trust LimitedStanley Grove, Jerry Clay
2
444
A−A+
Trinity Multi Academy TrustTrinity Academy Cathedral
1
1,028
B+
Rooks Nest AcademyRooks Nest
1
368
A+
Waterton Academy TrustWrenthorpe
1
314
C+
Ethos Academy TrustEvolve
1
44
—
Wakefield CouncilKettlethorpe High, Sandal Castle VA, Wakefield Snapethorpe, Wakefield Lawefield, Hendal, Wakefield Flanshaw Junior and Infant, Wakefield Pinders (JIN), Newton Hill Community, Stanley St Peters, Alverthorpe St Paul's, Wakefield St Marys, Methodist Voluntary Controlled Junior, Infant: With Communication Resource, The Mount Junior Infant, Wakefield St Johns, The Castle Nursery, Pinderfields Hospital PRU
16
6,452
B+DDCC−DC−AABDCC−C−
After 16
Where Wakefield’s teenagers go at 16
In England young people stay in education or training until 18: a sixth form, a college, or an apprenticeship.
1 of Wakefield’s 5 state secondaries has a sixth form: Outwood Grange. CAPA College is a state 16–19 school in the large town. Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, a further-education college, is in the large town.
Special schools and alternative provision in Wakefield
Wakefield has 2 alternative provision schools, for pupils who can’t attend mainstream school for a time. A special-school place isn’t applied for like a mainstream one: for a child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), Wakefield Council names the school in the plan, after asking the family’s preference. These schools have no letter, because their results don’t compare with mainstream schools’. Their cards ↑
Wakefield Council’s SEND Local Offer lists support beyond these schools.
Towns its size
18th of 76 English towns and cities of 69,000 to 132,000
Ranked by School Grade, best first: the towns and cities either side of Wakefield, and the top and bottom of the group.
Bottom Boat has the best-graded schools nearby (A−). Small places often use the schools within 3 km, so neighbours can share schools.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Expected standard at Key Stage 2. The share of 11-year-olds who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, in tests and teacher assessment at the end of primary school. We use DfE’s three-year average (2023–2025) to steady small schools.
•
Higher standard. The share working at greater depth in all three. In Wakefield: 9% (England’s average school: 8%).
•
Attainment 8. A pupil’s GCSE grades across eight subjects, with English and maths counted twice, added up. 50 is roughly a grade 5 in every subject.
•
Grade 5+ in English and maths. A strong pass in both. Grade 4 is a standard pass.
•
Provisional. 2025/26 GCSE figures are DfE’s first release; revised figures follow in February, usually within a point.
•
Progress 8. Not shown: there is none for 2025/26, because these pupils sat no KS2 tests in 2020 (Covid).
•
Free school meals. Pupils eligible for free school meals now, from the January census: the usual measure of how many pupils come from low-income homes.
•
Independent schools. Not included: they publish no results comparable with state schools’.
Questions about schools in Wakefield
Are schools in Wakefield good?
Wakefield’s state schools earn a B+ against schools across England: primary results beat 49% of towns in England; secondary results beat 75% of towns in England, on Department for Education Key Stage 2 and GCSE results. School places are handled by Wakefield council.
What is the best secondary school in Wakefield?
On 2025/26 GCSE results, Trinity Academy Cathedral: Attainment 8 of 50.9 and 53% with grade 5+ in English and maths, against 47.3 at the average school in England. Results are one measure; distance decides most places.
What is the best primary school in Wakefield?
On Key Stage 2 results over 2023–25, Jerry Clay Academy: 87% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% at the average school in England.
Do Wakefield secondary schools have sixth forms?
1 of 5 do.
How do I apply for a school place in Wakefield?
Through Wakefield Council, for every state school including academies. Secondary applications close on 31 October (offers 1 March); primary on 15 January (offers 16 April).
How many schools in Wakefield are full?
12 of 30 mainstream schools have at least as many pupils as places, on DfE’s January 2026 census. A full school still admits by its rules, usually distance after siblings.
How many state schools are in Wakefield?
34 open state-funded schools are located in Wakefield’s built-up area: 25 primary, 5 secondary and 4 other (special schools, alternative provision, nurseries and 16–19). Independent schools aren’t included.
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 · DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), further-education and sixth-form colleges · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
