St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy
Cutsyke Road, Featherstone, Pontefract, WF7 6BD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- THE BISHOP KONSTANT CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Dr Philip Dore
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Leeds (rc)
- Sponsor
- Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Normanton and Hemsworth
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,800
- Pupils on roll
- 1,470
- URN
- 138951
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977691000
About this school
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,470 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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 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
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- 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 | 271 | 278 | 268 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.0 | 47.7 | 46.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.04 -0.13 to +0.21 | -0.01 -0.18 to +0.15 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 49.3% | 49.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 67% | 70.9% | 69% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 41% | 47.5% | 38.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
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 St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary 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 | 47 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.7 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.7 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,503 |
| 2023/24 | 1,488 |
| 2024/25 | 1,481 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy compares
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy ranked 9th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.7 | 8% | 22.6% | 1,470 | — |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 1.6 miles |
| The King's School | 49.9 | 6.6% | 24.4% | 1,041 | 1.9 miles |
| Outwood Academy Freeston | 44.6 | 10.7% | 29.6% | 993 | 2.1 miles |
| Castleford Academy | 48.5 | 8.7% | 27.8% | 1,480 | 2.1 miles |
| Airedale Academy | 33.8 | 15.2% | 49.7% | 1,008 | 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.57%
- English as an additional language
- 12.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.03%
- Persistent absence
- 23.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Featherstone Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
The King's School1.9 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Outwood Academy Freeston2.1 miles
Secondary · Normanton
-
Castleford Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Castleford
-
Airedale Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Castleford
Other schools in Pontefract
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy ranks 3rd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Pontefract.
- Carleton High School Secondary
- Minsthorpe Community College Secondary
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth Secondary
- The Featherstone Academy Secondary
- The King's School Secondary
- Harewood Centre Nursery School Nursery
- Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Ackworth Mill Dam School Primary
- Ash Grove Primary Academy Primary
- Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Carleton Park Junior and Infant School Primary
- Cherry Tree Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy teach?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy is Dr Philip Dore, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary 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 many pupils are at St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy has 1,470 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy full?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy has capacity for 1,800 pupils and 1,470 on roll (82%), 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 St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Leeds (rc).
- Is St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy a selective school?
- No. St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy part of an academy trust?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy is part of THE BISHOP KONSTANT CATHOLIC 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 St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy have?
- The schools register lists St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47 in 2022/23 and 46.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy compare with other schools in Wakefield?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy ranked 9th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary 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.