Ark Carleton Park Primary School
Moxon Close, Carleton Park, Pontefract, WF8 3PT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Mrs Michelle Winter
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 218
- Pupils on roll
- 208
- URN
- 140337
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977722615
About this school
Ark Carleton Park Primary School is a primary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 208 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 31 | 30 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 97% | 93% | 87% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 32% | 33% | 23% |
| Expected standard in reading | 100% | 97% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 100% | 97% | 97% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 90% | 93% | 77% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 112.0 | 110.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 110.0 | 109.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +6.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +5.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +5.90 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Ark Carleton Park Primary 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 | 97% | 59.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 93% | 62.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 87% | 63.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 205 |
| 2023/24 | 207 |
| 2024/25 | 203 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Carleton Park Primary School compares
Ark Carleton Park Primary School ranked 9th of 97 primary schools in Wakefield for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 87% | 3.2% | 21.7% | 208 | — |
| Ark Larks Hill Primary School | 97% | 2.4% | 6.4% | 203 | 0.4 miles |
| Ark The Rookeries Carleton Primary School | 73% | 3.7% | 20.9% | 330 | 0.6 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract | 77% | 4.7% | 10.4% | 222 | 0.7 miles |
| Ark De Lacy Primary School | 80% | 4.6% | 51.9% | 342 | 0.9 miles |
| Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary School | 93% | 3.7% | 24% | 434 | 0.9 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)
- 21.67%
- English as an additional language
- 5.9%
- Overall absence
- 3.24%
- Persistent absence
- 5.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ark Larks Hill Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Ark The Rookeries Carleton Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract0.7 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Ark De Lacy Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Pontefract
Other schools in Pontefract
Ark Carleton Park Primary School ranks 4th of the 33 ranked primary schools in Pontefract.
- Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Ackworth Mill Dam School Primary
- Ark De Lacy Primary School Primary
- Ark Halfpenny Lane Primary School Primary
- Ark Larks Hill Primary School Primary
- Ark Northfield Primary School Primary
- Ark Orchard Head Primary School Primary
- Ark The Rookeries Carleton Primary School Primary
- Ash Grove Primary Academy Primary
- Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Cherry Tree Academy Primary
- Darrington Church of England Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
- School name changed from Carleton Park Junior and Infant School to Ark Carleton Park Primary School recorded 22 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Ark Carleton Park Primary School teach?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of Ark Carleton Park Primary School?
- The headteacher of Ark Carleton Park Primary School is Mrs Michelle Winter, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark Carleton Park Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Carleton Park Primary 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 Carleton Park Primary School?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School has 208 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Ark Carleton Park Primary School full?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School has capacity for 218 pupils and 208 on roll (95%), 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 Carleton Park Primary School a faith school?
- No. Ark Carleton Park Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Ark Carleton Park Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Ark Carleton Park Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Ark Carleton Park Primary School?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary 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 Carleton Park Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 97% in 2022/23 and 87% 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 Carleton Park Primary School rank locally?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School ranked 9th of 97 primary schools in Wakefield for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 95% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% 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 Carleton Park Primary School's absence rate?
- Ark Carleton Park Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Carleton Park Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Carleton Park Primary 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 22 September 2026.