King James's School
King James Road, Knaresborough, HG5 8EB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Miriam Oakley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Federation
- Boroughbridge High School and King James's School Federation
- Constituency
- Harrogate and Knaresborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,705
- Pupils on roll
- 1,554
- URN
- 121687
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01423866061
About this school
King James's School is a community secondary school in Knaresborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,554 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 11 January 2023, 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 | 248 | 262 | 259 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.2 | 46.1 | 46.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 -0.22 to +0.14 | -0.15 -0.32 to +0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 48.9% | 41.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 71.4% | 68% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 21% | 17.9% | 11.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
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 King James's 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 | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 45.2 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.1 | 41.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 40.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,554 |
| 2023/24 | 1,542 |
| 2024/25 | 1,522 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How King James's School compares
King James's School ranked 20th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.1 | 8.9% | 18% | 1,554 | — |
| Harrogate High School | 39.1 | 11.2% | 32.4% | 579 | 2.5 miles |
| St John Fisher Catholic Academy | 55.1 | 8% | 10.1% | 1,250 | 2.7 miles |
| St Aidan's Church of England High School | 56.4 | 6.9% | 6.6% | 1,966 | 2.9 miles |
| Harrogate Grammar School | 56.6 | 7.9% | 10.4% | 2,081 | 3.8 miles |
| Rossett School | 44.1 | 10.5% | 23.4% | 785 | 4.2 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)
- 17.98%
- English as an additional language
- 4.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.86%
- Persistent absence
- 24.13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harrogate High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
-
St John Fisher Catholic Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
-
St Aidan's Church of England High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
-
Harrogate Grammar School3.8 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
-
Rossett School4.2 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
Other schools in Knaresborough
- Aspin Park Academy Primary
- Goldsborough Church of England Primary School Primary
- Knaresborough St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Meadowside Academy Primary
- Scotton Lingerfield Primary School Primary
- St Mary's Primary School Knaresborough, A Voluntary Catholic Academy Primary
- Staveley Community Primary School Primary
- The Forest School Academies
Common questions
- What year groups does King James's School teach?
- King James's School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Knaresborough.
- Who is the headteacher of King James's School?
- The headteacher of King James's School is Ms Miriam Oakley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was King James's School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected King James's 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 big is King James's School?
- King James's School has 1,554 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is King James's School full?
- King James's School has capacity for 1,705 pupils and 1,554 on roll (91%), 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 King James's School a faith school?
- No. King James's School has no designated religious character.
- Is King James's School a selective school?
- No. King James's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs King James's School?
- King James's School is part of the Boroughbridge High School and King James's School Federation federation. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have King James's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.2 in 2022/23 and 46.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does King James's School rank locally?
- King James's School ranked 20th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 62% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is King James's School's absence rate?
- King James's School's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are King James's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, King James's 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 30 June 2026.