Lightcliffe Academy
Stoney Lane, Lightcliffe, Halifax, HX3 8TL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ABBEY MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Joanne Hackett
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Abbey Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Calder Valley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,350
- Pupils on roll
- 788
- URN
- 137036
- Local authority
- Calderdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01422201028
About this school
Lightcliffe Academy is a secondary academy in Halifax. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 788 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- 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 | 236 | 203 | 175 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.0 | 38.7 | 38.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.43 -0.61 to -0.25 | -0.37 -0.57 to -0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 33% | 29.6% | 25.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 57% | 55.2% | 48% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 4.9% | 20.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
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 Lightcliffe 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 | Calderdale average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41 | 39.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.7 | 39 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.5 | 37.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 977 |
| 2023/24 | 916 |
| 2024/25 | 820 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lightcliffe Academy compares
Lightcliffe Academy ranked 11th of 11 secondary schools in Calderdale for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.5 | 9.4% | 32.7% | 788 | — |
| Brighouse High School | 40 | 8.6% | 22.8% | 1,317 | 0.7 miles |
| Rastrick High School | 49.9 | 7.7% | 23.9% | 1,774 | 1.8 miles |
| Whitcliffe Mount, A Share Academy | 42.7 | 7.4% | 27.1% | 1,228 | 2.5 miles |
| Park Lane Academy | 40.9 | 8.6% | 56.4% | 481 | 2.9 miles |
| Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy | 36.6 | 13.7% | 46.3% | 1,325 | 3.0 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)
- 32.68%
- English as an additional language
- 5%
- Overall absence
- 9.37%
- Persistent absence
- 30.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Brighouse High School0.7 miles
Secondary · Brighouse
-
Rastrick High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Brighouse
-
Whitcliffe Mount, A Share Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Cleckheaton
-
Park Lane Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Halifax
-
Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Bradford
Other schools in Halifax
Lightcliffe Academy ranks 6th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Halifax.
- Park Lane Academy Secondary
- The Crossley Heath School Secondary
- The North Halifax Grammar School Secondary
- Trinity Academy Halifax Secondary
- Abbey Park Academy Primary
- All Saints' CofE Primary School Primary
- Ash Green Community Primary School Primary
- Barkisland CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Beech Hill School Primary
- Bowling Green Academy Primary
- Bradshaw Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Pellon CofE VC Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lightcliffe Academy teach?
- Lightcliffe Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Halifax.
- Who is the principal of Lightcliffe Academy?
- The principal of Lightcliffe Academy is Mrs Joanne Hackett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lightcliffe Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lightcliffe 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 Lightcliffe Academy?
- Lightcliffe Academy has 788 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Lightcliffe Academy full?
- Lightcliffe Academy has capacity for 1,350 pupils and 788 on roll (58%), 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 Lightcliffe Academy a faith school?
- No. Lightcliffe Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Lightcliffe Academy a selective school?
- No. Lightcliffe Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Lightcliffe Academy?
- Lightcliffe Academy is part of ABBEY MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Lightcliffe Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41 in 2022/23 and 38.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lightcliffe Academy rank locally?
- Lightcliffe Academy ranked 11th of 11 secondary schools in Calderdale for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 34% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lightcliffe Academy's absence rate?
- Lightcliffe Academy's overall absence rate is 9.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lightcliffe Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lightcliffe 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.