The Farnley Academy
Chapel Lane, Farnley, Leeds, LS12 5EU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Wayne Little
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The GORSE Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Leeds South West and Morley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,210
- Pupils on roll
- 1,492
- URN
- 137577
- Local authority
- Leeds
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01132630741
About this school
The Farnley Academy is a secondary academy in Leeds. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,492 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 281 | 297 | 293 |
| Attainment 8 score | 50.5 | 49.3 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.72 +0.55 to +0.88 | +0.53 +0.36 to +0.69 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 51.9% | 50.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 73.1% | 71.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 73.1% | 78.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
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 The Farnley 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 | 50.5 | 39.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49.3 | 39.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.4% | 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 | 1,490 |
| 2023/24 | 1,491 |
| 2024/25 | 1,501 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Farnley Academy compares
The Farnley Academy ranked 17th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% 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 | 49.1 | 8.7% | 33.2% | 1,492 | — |
| Dixons Unity Academy | 36 | 12.8% | 55.7% | 907 | 1.0 miles |
| Crawshaw Academy | 45.2 | 9.1% | 24.8% | 1,052 | 1.6 miles |
| Pudsey Grammar School | 44 | 10.1% | 25.3% | 1,358 | 2.0 miles |
| Leeds West Academy | 41.7 | 13.1% | 41.8% | 1,432 | 2.5 miles |
| Bruntcliffe Academy | 46 | 9.7% | 26.1% | 1,361 | 2.6 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)
- 33.24%
- English as an additional language
- 11.9%
- Overall absence
- 8.7%
- Persistent absence
- 22.58%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Dixons Unity Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Crawshaw Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Pudsey
-
Pudsey Grammar School2.0 miles
Secondary · Pudsey
-
Leeds West Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Bruntcliffe Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Leeds
Other schools in Leeds
The Farnley Academy ranks 13th 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 year groups does The Farnley Academy teach?
- The Farnley Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Leeds.
- Who is the principal of The Farnley Academy?
- The principal of The Farnley Academy is Mr Wayne Little, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Farnley Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Farnley 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 The Farnley Academy?
- The Farnley Academy has 1,492 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Farnley Academy full?
- The Farnley Academy has capacity for 1,210 pupils and 1,492 on roll (123%), 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 The Farnley Academy a faith school?
- No. The Farnley Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Farnley Academy a selective school?
- No. The Farnley Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Farnley Academy?
- The Farnley Academy is part of THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Farnley Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 50.5 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Farnley Academy rank locally?
- The Farnley Academy ranked 17th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% 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 The Farnley Academy's absence rate?
- The Farnley Academy's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Farnley Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Farnley 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.