Kettlethorpe High School
Kettlethorpe Hall Drive, Standbridge Lane, Wakefield, WF2 7EL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Roisin Paul
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Ossett and Denby Dale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,750
- Pupils on roll
- 1,616
- URN
- 108271
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01924251605
About this school
Kettlethorpe High School is a community secondary school in Wakefield. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,616 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Kettlethorpe High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 15 June 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 320 | 315 | 315 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.0 | 46.6 | 46.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.21 +0.06 to +0.37 | -0.06 -0.23 to +0.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 57% | 52.4% | 47.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 68.9% | 65.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 77% | 67.6% | 80.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Kettlethorpe High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Wakefield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.6 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.9 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,646 |
| 2023/24 | 1,686 |
| 2024/25 | 1,672 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Kettlethorpe High School compares
Kettlethorpe High School ranked 8th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.9 | 11.5% | 24.2% | 1,616 | — |
| St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy | 46.3 | 8.5% | 26.7% | 762 | 1.1 miles |
| Trinity Academy Cathedral | 48.7 | 8% | 41.5% | 1,028 | 1.7 miles |
| Horbury Academy | 48.7 | 10.1% | 26.3% | 1,070 | 2.3 miles |
| Crofton Academy | 46.5 | 10.2% | 32% | 1,045 | 2.9 miles |
| Outwood Academy City Fields | 38.8 | 9.2% | 38.8% | 928 | 3.0 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 24.16%
- English as an additional language
- 10.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.46%
- Persistent absence
- 27.91%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Trinity Academy Cathedral1.7 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Horbury Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Crofton Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Outwood Academy City Fields3.0 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
Other schools in Wakefield
Kettlethorpe High School ranks 5th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Wakefield.
- Crofton Academy Secondary
- Horbury Academy Secondary
- Outwood Academy City Fields Secondary
- Outwood Grange Academy Secondary
- Rodillian Academy Secondary
- St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Trinity Academy Cathedral Secondary
- Woodkirk Academy Secondary
- Crigglestone Nursery School Nursery
- The Castle Nursery School Nursery
- Alverthorpe St Paul's CofE (VA) School 3-11yrs Primary
- Blackgates Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Kettlethorpe High School teach?
- Kettlethorpe High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Wakefield.
- Who is the headteacher of Kettlethorpe High School?
- The headteacher of Kettlethorpe High School is Mrs Roisin Paul, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Kettlethorpe High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Kettlethorpe High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Kettlethorpe High School?
- Kettlethorpe High School has 1,616 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Kettlethorpe High School full?
- Kettlethorpe High School has capacity for 1,750 pupils and 1,616 on roll (92%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Kettlethorpe High School a faith school?
- No. Kettlethorpe High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Kettlethorpe High School a selective school?
- No. Kettlethorpe High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Kettlethorpe High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50 in 2022/23 and 46.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Kettlethorpe High School compare with other schools in Wakefield?
- Kettlethorpe High School ranked 8th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Kettlethorpe High School's absence rate?
- Kettlethorpe High School's overall absence rate is 11.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Kettlethorpe High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Kettlethorpe High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.