Ark The King's School
Mill Hill Lane, Pontefract, WF8 4JF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Ms Lyndsay Harris
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,041
- URN
- 139500
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977601701
About this school
Ark The King's School is a secondary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,041 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
- 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 | 206 | 207 | 206 |
| Attainment 8 score | 51.4 | 49.0 | 49.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.54 +0.35 to +0.74 | +0.10 -0.09 to +0.30 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 56.5% | 60.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 74.9% | 75.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 63% | 67.6% | 46.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 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 Ark The King's 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 | Wakefield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 51.4 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 49 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.9 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,037 |
| 2023/24 | 1,033 |
| 2024/25 | 1,038 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark The King's School compares
Ark The King's School ranked 2nd of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.9 | 6.6% | 24.4% | 1,041 | — |
| Ark Carleton High School | 47.5 | 7.2% | 30.1% | 1,026 | 0.9 miles |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 1.2 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 8% | 22.6% | 1,470 | 1.9 miles |
| Airedale Academy | 33.8 | 15.2% | 49.7% | 1,008 | 2.5 miles |
| Castleford Academy | 48.5 | 8.7% | 27.8% | 1,480 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 24.37%
- English as an additional language
- 5.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.58%
- Persistent absence
- 16.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ark Carleton High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
The Featherstone Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Airedale Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Castleford
-
Castleford Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Castleford
Other schools in Pontefract
Ark The King's School ranks 1st of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Pontefract.
- Ark Carleton High School Secondary
- Minsthorpe Community College Secondary
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth Secondary
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- The Featherstone Academy Secondary
- Harewood Centre Nursery School Nursery
- Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Ackworth Mill Dam School Primary
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School Primary
- Ark De Lacy Primary School Primary
- Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary School Primary
- Ark Larks Hill Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Mr Ash Jacobs (until September 2026).
- School name changed from Ark the King's School to Ark The King's School recorded 6 Oct 2026
- School name changed from The King's School to Ark the King's School recorded 22 Sep 2026
- Headteacher changed from Mr Ash Jacobs to Ms Lyndsay Harris recorded 8 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Ark The King's School teach?
- Ark The King's School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of Ark The King's School?
- The headteacher of Ark The King's School is Ms Lyndsay Harris, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark The King's School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark The King's 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 Ark The King's School?
- Ark The King's School has 1,041 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ark The King's School full?
- Ark The King's School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,041 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Ark The King's School a faith school?
- No. Ark The King's School has no designated religious character.
- Is Ark The King's School a selective school?
- No. Ark The King's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ark The King's School?
- Ark The King's School is part of ARK SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ark The King's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 51.4 in 2022/23 and 49.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ark The King's School rank locally?
- Ark The King's School ranked 2nd of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 75% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ark The King's School's absence rate?
- Ark The King's School's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark The King's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark The King's 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 6 October 2026.