High Well School
Rookhill Road, Pontefract, WF8 2DD
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 9 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mr Mark Richardson
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 110
- Pupils on roll
- 104
- URN
- 131526
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01924572100
About this school
High Well School is a community special school in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 9 to 16 and has 104 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 23 September 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | - |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | 86.0 | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | 83.0 | - |
| Reading progress | -20.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -19.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -19.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 20 | 23 | 15 |
| Attainment 8 score | 6.2 | 2.9 | 1.7 |
| Progress 8 score | - | -1.82 -2.46 to -1.19 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 10% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
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 High Well 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 | 0% | 59.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 62.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | — | 63.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Wakefield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 2.9 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 1.7 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 34.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 43.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 45.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 97 |
| 2023/24 | 106 |
| 2024/25 | 103 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 78.64%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 45.93%
- Persistent absence
- 79.25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Balance Alternative Provision2.2 miles
Special schools · Knottingley
-
Ackworth School3.1 miles
Independent schools · West Yorkshire
-
Oakfield Park School3.9 miles
Special schools · Pontefract
-
The Grange School4.3 miles
Special schools · Castleford
-
Hammer Lane Academy5.0 miles
Special schools · Wakefield
Other schools in Pontefract
- Oakfield Park School Special schools
- Harewood Centre Nursery School Nursery
- Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Ackworth Mill Dam School Primary
- Ash Grove Primary Academy Primary
- Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Carleton Park Junior and Infant School Primary
- Cherry Tree Academy Primary
- Darrington Church of England Primary School Primary
- De Lacy Primary School Primary
- Featherstone All Saints CofE Academy Primary
- Featherstone Girnhill Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does High Well School teach?
- High Well School teaches children aged 9 to 16. It is a special school in Pontefract.
- Who is the head teacher of High Well School?
- The head teacher of High Well School is Mr Mark Richardson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was High Well School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected High Well 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 High Well School?
- High Well School has 104 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 9 to 16.
- Is High Well School full?
- High Well School has capacity for 110 pupils and 104 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is High Well School a faith school?
- No. High Well School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does High Well School have?
- The schools register lists High Well School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have High Well School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is High Well School's absence rate?
- High Well School's overall absence rate is 45.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are High Well School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, High Well 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.