Horbury Academy
Wakefield Road, Horbury, Wakefield, WF4 5HE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ACCORD MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Walker
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Ossett and Denby Dale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,059
- Pupils on roll
- 1,070
- URN
- 138707
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01924282740
About this school
Horbury Academy is a secondary academy in Wakefield. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,070 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 198 | 228 | 196 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.8 | 48.9 | 48.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.29 +0.09 to +0.49 | +0.32 +0.13 to +0.50 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 52.2% | 52.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 71.1% | 76% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 21.5% | 23.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 |
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 Horbury 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 | 49.8 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.9 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.7 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,109 |
| 2023/24 | 1,102 |
| 2024/25 | 1,075 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Horbury Academy compares
Horbury Academy ranked 3rd 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 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.7 | 10.1% | 26.3% | 1,070 | — |
| Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College | 51 | 9.1% | 20.4% | 1,699 | 1.4 miles |
| Trinity Academy Cathedral | 48.7 | 8% | 41.5% | 1,028 | 1.4 miles |
| Kettlethorpe High School | 46.9 | 11.5% | 24.2% | 1,616 | 2.3 miles |
| St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy | 46.3 | 8.5% | 26.7% | 762 | 2.6 miles |
| Thornhill Community Academy, A Share Academy | 43.6 | 9% | 33.6% | 902 | 2.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 January 2026
- 5 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.33%
- English as an additional language
- 6.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.09%
- Persistent absence
- 23.55%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College1.4 miles
Secondary · Ossett
-
Trinity Academy Cathedral1.4 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Kettlethorpe High School2.3 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Thornhill Community Academy, A Share Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Dewsbury
Other schools in Wakefield
Horbury Academy ranks 2nd of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Wakefield.
- Crofton Academy Secondary
- Kettlethorpe High School Secondary
- Outwood Academy City Fields Secondary
- Outwood Grange Academy Secondary
- Rodillian Academy Secondary
- St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Trinity Academy Cathedral Secondary
- Woodkirk Academy Secondary
- Crigglestone Nursery School Nursery
- The Castle Nursery School Nursery
- Alverthorpe St Paul's CofE (VA) School 3-11yrs Primary
- Blackgates Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Horbury Academy teach?
- Horbury Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Wakefield.
- Who is the headteacher of Horbury Academy?
- The headteacher of Horbury Academy is Mrs Nicola Walker, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Horbury Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Horbury 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 Horbury Academy?
- Horbury Academy has 1,070 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Horbury Academy full?
- Horbury Academy has capacity for 1,059 pupils and 1,070 on roll (101%), 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 Horbury Academy a faith school?
- No. Horbury Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Horbury Academy a selective school?
- No. Horbury Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Horbury Academy?
- Horbury Academy is part of ACCORD MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Horbury Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.8 in 2022/23 and 48.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Horbury Academy rank locally?
- Horbury Academy ranked 3rd 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 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Horbury Academy's absence rate?
- Horbury Academy's overall absence rate is 10.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Horbury Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Horbury 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.