Carleton High School
Green Lane, Carleton, Pontefract, WF8 3NW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PONTEFRACT ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Shaheen Shariff
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Pontefract Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,026
- URN
- 139501
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977781555
About this school
Carleton High School is a secondary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,026 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 November 2024, where inspectors found the school has improved significantly. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 202 | 199 | 196 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.3 | 47.4 | 47.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.61 +0.41 to +0.81 | +0.12 -0.08 to +0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 49.7% | 45.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 69.8% | 67.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 49% | 68.3% | 44.9% |
| 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 Carleton High 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 | 47.3 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.4 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.5 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,025 |
| 2023/24 | 1,017 |
| 2024/25 | 1,021 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Carleton High School compares
Carleton High School ranked 6th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.5 | 7.2% | 30.1% | 1,026 | — |
| The King's School | 49.9 | 6.6% | 24.4% | 1,041 | 0.9 miles |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 1.7 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 8% | 22.6% | 1,470 | 2.8 miles |
| De Lacy Academy | 45.6 | 10.9% | 39.8% | 853 | 3.1 miles |
| Airedale Academy | 33.8 | 15.2% | 49.7% | 1,008 | 3.1 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)
- 30.07%
- English as an additional language
- 2.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.19%
- Persistent absence
- 18.08%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The King's School0.9 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
The Featherstone Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
De Lacy Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Knottingley
-
Airedale Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Castleford
Other schools in Pontefract
Carleton High School ranks 2nd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Pontefract.
- 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
- 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 year groups does Carleton High School teach?
- Carleton High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of Carleton High School?
- The headteacher of Carleton High School is Mrs Shaheen Shariff, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Carleton High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Carleton High 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 Carleton High School?
- Carleton High School has 1,026 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Carleton High School full?
- Carleton High School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,026 on roll (98%), 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 Carleton High School a faith school?
- No. Carleton High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Carleton High School a selective school?
- No. Carleton High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Carleton High School?
- Carleton High School is part of PONTEFRACT ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Carleton High School have?
- The schools register lists Carleton High School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Carleton High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.3 in 2022/23 and 47.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Carleton High School rank locally?
- Carleton High School ranked 6th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Carleton High School's absence rate?
- Carleton High School's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Carleton High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Carleton High 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 1 July 2026.