Hillcrest Academy
Cowper Street, Leeds, LS7 4DR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Victoria Oddy
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The GORSE Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Leeds North East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 428
- Pupils on roll
- 465
- URN
- 140413
- Local authority
- Leeds
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01132624080
About this school
Hillcrest Academy is a primary academy in Leeds. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 465 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 60 | 58 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 58% | 43% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 2% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 77% | 66% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 73% | 60% | 81% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 69% | 74% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 102.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 102.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.50 | - | - |
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 Hillcrest 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 | Leeds average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 58% | 59% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 43% | 59.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 61.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 459 |
| 2023/24 | 452 |
| 2024/25 | 452 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hillcrest Academy compares
Hillcrest Academy ranked 117th of 216 primary schools in Leeds for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 6.3% | 32.6% | 465 | — |
| Bankside Primary School | 31% | 8.6% | 35% | 676 | 0.2 miles |
| Holy Rosary and St Anne's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 43% | 4.4% | 55.3% | 207 | 0.3 miles |
| Bracken Edge Primary School | 54% | 8.7% | 33.7% | 362 | 0.4 miles |
| Harehills Primary School | 52% | 8% | 45.1% | 692 | 0.6 miles |
| Co-op Academy Nightingale | 43% | 9.5% | 53.8% | 395 | 0.7 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)
- 32.61%
- English as an additional language
- 62.8%
- Overall absence
- 6.31%
- Persistent absence
- 17.2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bankside Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Leeds
- 0.3 miles
-
Bracken Edge Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Leeds
-
Harehills Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Leeds
-
Co-op Academy Nightingale0.7 miles
Primary · Leeds
Other schools in Leeds
Hillcrest Academy ranks 93rd of the 182 ranked primary schools in Leeds.
- Aberford Church of England Primary School Primary
- Adel Primary School Primary
- Adel St John the Baptist Church of England Primary School Primary
- Alder Tree Primary Academy Primary
- All Saint's Richmond Hill Church of England Primary School Primary
- Allerton CofE Primary School Primary
- Alwoodley Primary School Primary
- Armley Park Primary School Primary
- Asquith Primary School Primary
- Austhorpe Primary School Primary
- Bankside Primary School Primary
- Bardsey Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Hillcrest Academy teach?
- Hillcrest Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Leeds.
- Who is the headteacher of Hillcrest Academy?
- The headteacher of Hillcrest Academy is Mrs Victoria Oddy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hillcrest Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hillcrest 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 Hillcrest Academy?
- Hillcrest Academy has 465 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Hillcrest Academy full?
- Hillcrest Academy has capacity for 428 pupils and 465 on roll (109%), 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 Hillcrest Academy a faith school?
- No. Hillcrest Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Hillcrest Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Hillcrest Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Hillcrest Academy?
- Hillcrest Academy is part of THE GORSE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Hillcrest Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 58% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hillcrest Academy rank locally?
- Hillcrest Academy ranked 117th of 216 primary schools in Leeds for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hillcrest Academy's absence rate?
- Hillcrest Academy's overall absence rate is 6.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hillcrest Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hillcrest 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 15 July 2026.