Garforth Academy
Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds, LS25 1LJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Principal Anna Young
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Delta Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Leeds East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,065
- Pupils on roll
- 1,897
- URN
- 136343
- Local authority
- Leeds
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01132127127
About this school
Garforth Academy is a secondary academy in Leeds. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,897 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Garforth Academy, 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 297 | 298 | 301 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.7 | 50.5 | 53.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.26 +0.10 to +0.43 | +0.34 +0.18 to +0.51 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 59% | 67.1% | 65.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 81.5% | 80.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 66% | 82.2% | 81.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
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 Garforth Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Leeds average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 50.7 | 39.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.5 | 39.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53.1 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,900 |
| 2023/24 | 1,897 |
| 2024/25 | 1,880 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Garforth Academy compares
Garforth Academy ranked 11th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53.1 | 7.1% | 17.5% | 1,897 | — |
| Brigshaw High School | 47.4 | 10% | 21.9% | 1,321 | 2.1 miles |
| John Smeaton Academy | 29.5 | 11.3% | 43.1% | 677 | 2.7 miles |
| Temple Moor High School | 45.9 | 9.2% | 25.3% | 1,341 | 2.9 miles |
| Leeds East Academy | 32.7 | 17.4% | 59.6% | 967 | 3.5 miles |
| Corpus Christi Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy | 35.1 | 12.4% | 40.6% | 784 | 3.9 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)
- 17.47%
- English as an additional language
- 4.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.07%
- Persistent absence
- 20.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Brigshaw High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Castleford
-
John Smeaton Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Temple Moor High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Leeds East Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Corpus Christi Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy3.9 miles
Secondary · Leeds
Other schools in Leeds
Garforth Academy ranks 8th of the 33 ranked secondary schools in Leeds.
- Abbey Grange Church of England Academy Secondary
- Allerton Grange School Secondary
- Allerton High School Secondary
- Benton Park School Secondary
- Bishop Young Church of England Academy Secondary
- Bruntcliffe Academy Secondary
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Secondary
- Co-op Academy Leeds Secondary
- Cockburn John Charles Academy Secondary
- Cockburn Laurence Calvert Academy Secondary
- Cockburn School Secondary
- Corpus Christi Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Garforth Academy teach?
- Garforth Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Leeds.
- Who is the principal of Garforth Academy?
- The principal of Garforth Academy is Principal Anna Young, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Garforth Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Garforth Academy, 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 Garforth Academy?
- Garforth Academy has 1,897 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Garforth Academy full?
- Garforth Academy has capacity for 2,065 pupils and 1,897 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 Garforth Academy a faith school?
- No. Garforth Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Garforth Academy a selective school?
- No. Garforth Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Garforth Academy part of an academy trust?
- Garforth Academy is part of DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Garforth Academy have?
- The schools register lists Garforth Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Garforth Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.7 in 2022/23 and 53.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Garforth Academy compare with other schools in Leeds?
- Garforth Academy ranked 11th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 84% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Garforth Academy's absence rate?
- Garforth Academy's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Garforth Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Garforth Academy'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 1 July 2026.