Ilkley Grammar School
Cowpasture Road, Ilkley, LS29 8TR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Carly Purnell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Moorlands Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Keighley and Ilkley
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,972
- Pupils on roll
- 2,219
- URN
- 136905
- Local authority
- Bradford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01943608424
About this school
Ilkley Grammar School is a secondary academy in Ilkley. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 2,219 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. 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 | 321 | 311 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.3 | 56.5 | 56.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.38 +0.21 to +0.54 | +0.54 +0.38 to +0.69 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 57% | 63.9% | 66.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 76% | 78.8% | 85.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 39% | 32.1% | 44.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.9 | 5.0 |
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 Ilkley Grammar 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 | Bradford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.3 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.5 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 56.5 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 2,083 |
| 2023/24 | 2,134 |
| 2024/25 | 2,172 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ilkley Grammar School compares
Ilkley Grammar School ranked 1st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56.5 | 7.8% | 7.1% | 2,219 | — |
| St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy | 55 | 7.2% | 7.8% | 1,211 | 4.5 miles |
| Bingley Grammar School | 46.5 | 9.6% | 25.6% | 1,985 | 4.7 miles |
| Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School Specialist Language College | 54.6 | 6.9% | 15.2% | 1,641 | 4.9 miles |
| Carlton Keighley | 38.6 | 8.2% | 32.8% | 809 | 5.1 miles |
| Guiseley School | 49.6 | 7% | 15.4% | 1,431 | 5.2 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 7.09%
- English as an additional language
- 4.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.79%
- Persistent absence
- 18.52%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Ilkley
-
Bingley Grammar School4.7 miles
Secondary · Bingley
-
Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School Specialist Language College4.9 miles
Secondary · Otley
-
Carlton Keighley5.1 miles
Secondary · Keighley
-
Guiseley School5.2 miles
Secondary · Leeds
Other schools in Ilkley
- St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Addingham Primary School Primary
- All Saints' CofE Primary School Primary
- Ashlands Primary School Primary
- Ben Rhydding Primary School Primary
- Burley and Woodhead CofE Primary School Primary
- Burley Oaks Primary School Primary
- Menston Primary School Primary
- The Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Primary
- Ghyll Royd School and Pre-School Independent schools
- Moorfield School & Nursery Independent schools
- Westville House School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Ilkley Grammar School teach?
- Ilkley Grammar School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ilkley.
- Who is the headteacher of Ilkley Grammar School?
- The headteacher of Ilkley Grammar School is Mrs Carly Purnell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ilkley Grammar School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ilkley Grammar 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 Ilkley Grammar School?
- Ilkley Grammar School has 2,219 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Ilkley Grammar School full?
- Ilkley Grammar School has capacity for 1,972 pupils and 2,219 on roll (113%), so it is at or above 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 Ilkley Grammar School a faith school?
- No. Ilkley Grammar School has no designated religious character.
- Is Ilkley Grammar School a selective school?
- No. Ilkley Grammar School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ilkley Grammar School?
- Ilkley Grammar School is part of MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Ilkley Grammar School have?
- The schools register lists Ilkley Grammar School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ilkley Grammar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.3 in 2022/23 and 56.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ilkley Grammar School rank locally?
- Ilkley Grammar School ranked 1st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 89% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ilkley Grammar School's absence rate?
- Ilkley Grammar School's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ilkley Grammar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ilkley Grammar 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 1 July 2026.