Castleford Academy
Ferrybridge Road, Castleford, WF10 4JQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CASTLEFORD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Wesley Bush
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Castleford Academy
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,480
- URN
- 136633
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977605060
About this school
Castleford Academy is a secondary academy in Castleford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,480 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 277 | 301 | 295 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.3 | 48.6 | 48.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.53 +0.37 to +0.70 | +0.41 +0.25 to +0.58 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 50.8% | 50.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 67.4% | 66.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 21.6% | 18% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
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 Castleford 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 | Wakefield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.3 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.6 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.5 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,503 |
| 2023/24 | 1,513 |
| 2024/25 | 1,477 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Castleford Academy compares
Castleford Academy ranked 5th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.5 | 8.7% | 27.8% | 1,480 | — |
| Airedale Academy | 33.8 | 15.2% | 49.7% | 1,008 | 1.3 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 8% | 22.6% | 1,470 | 2.1 miles |
| Brigshaw High School | 47.4 | 10% | 21.9% | 1,321 | 2.7 miles |
| The King's School | 49.9 | 6.6% | 24.4% | 1,041 | 2.9 miles |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 3.4 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)
- 27.76%
- English as an additional language
- 5.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.71%
- Persistent absence
- 23.53%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Airedale Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Castleford
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Brigshaw High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Castleford
-
The King's School2.9 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
The Featherstone Academy3.4 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
Other schools in Castleford
- Airedale Academy Secondary
- Brigshaw High School Secondary
- Ackton Pastures Primary Academy Primary
- Airedale Infant Academy Primary
- Airedale Junior Academy Primary
- Allerton Bywater Primary School Primary
- Castleford Park Junior Academy Primary
- Castleford Three Lane Ends Academy Primary
- Castleford Wheldon Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Fairburn View Primary School, Castleford Primary
- Glasshoughton Infant Academy Primary
- Half Acres Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Castleford Academy teach?
- Castleford Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Castleford.
- Who is the headteacher of Castleford Academy?
- The headteacher of Castleford Academy is Mr Wesley Bush, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Castleford Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Castleford 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 big is Castleford Academy?
- Castleford Academy has 1,480 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Castleford Academy full?
- Castleford Academy has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,480 on roll (99%), 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 Castleford Academy a faith school?
- No. Castleford Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Castleford Academy a selective school?
- No. Castleford Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Castleford Academy?
- Castleford Academy is part of CASTLEFORD ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Castleford Academy have?
- The schools register lists Castleford Academy's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Castleford Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.3 in 2022/23 and 48.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Castleford Academy rank locally?
- Castleford Academy ranked 5th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 71% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Castleford Academy's absence rate?
- Castleford Academy's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Castleford Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Castleford 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.