Bradford Forster Academy
Fenby Avenue, Bradford, BD4 8RG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- BRADFORD DIOCESAN ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Daniel Styles
- Religious ethos
- None
- Diocese
- Diocese of Leeds (ce)
- Sponsor
- Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Bradford East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 892
- URN
- 140429
- Local authority
- Bradford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01274302400
About this school
Bradford Forster Academy is a Church of England secondary academy in Bradford. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 892 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bradford Forster Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 186 | 187 | 198 |
| Attainment 8 score | 32.0 | 37.0 | 32.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.80 -1.01 to -0.59 | -0.54 -0.75 to -0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 32.6% | 23.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 49.7% | 41.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 44.9% | 38.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
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 Bradford Forster 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 | Bradford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 32 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32.7 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 983 |
| 2023/24 | 974 |
| 2024/25 | 969 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bradford Forster Academy compares
Bradford Forster Academy ranked 31st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32.7 | 10.7% | 48.1% | 892 | — |
| Bronte Girls' Academy | 48.9 | 7.9% | 38.9% | 709 | 1.0 miles |
| Laisterdyke Leadership Academy | 36.1 | 10.9% | 50.6% | 889 | 1.2 miles |
| Dixons City Academy | 49.5 | 9% | 30.5% | 892 | 1.3 miles |
| Dixons Trinity Academy | 51.4 | 8.9% | 34.2% | 671 | 1.6 miles |
| Carlton Bolling | 44.4 | 8.9% | 43.7% | 1,633 | 1.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.09%
- English as an additional language
- 27.3%
- Overall absence
- 10.66%
- Persistent absence
- 30.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bronte Girls' Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Laisterdyke Leadership Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Dixons City Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Dixons Trinity Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Bradford
-
Carlton Bolling1.7 miles
Secondary · Bradford
Other schools in Bradford
Bradford Forster Academy ranks 25th of the 28 ranked secondary schools in Bradford.
- Beckfoot Thornton Secondary
- Beckfoot Upper Heaton Secondary
- Belle Vue Girls' Academy Secondary
- Bradford Girls' Grammar School Secondary
- Bronte Girls' Academy Secondary
- Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College Academy Secondary
- Carlton Bolling Secondary
- Co-op Academy Grange Secondary
- Dixons City Academy Secondary
- Dixons Kings Academy Secondary
- Dixons McMillan Academy Secondary
- Dixons Trinity Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Bradford Forster Academy teach?
- Bradford Forster Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bradford.
- Who is the headteacher of Bradford Forster Academy?
- The headteacher of Bradford Forster Academy is Mr Daniel Styles, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bradford Forster Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bradford Forster 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 Bradford Forster Academy?
- Bradford Forster Academy has 892 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bradford Forster Academy full?
- Bradford Forster Academy has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 892 on roll (85%), 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 Bradford Forster Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Bradford Forster Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Leeds (ce).
- Is Bradford Forster Academy part of an academy trust?
- Bradford Forster Academy is part of BRADFORD DIOCESAN ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bradford Forster Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 32 in 2022/23 and 32.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bradford Forster Academy compare with other schools in Bradford?
- Bradford Forster Academy ranked 31st of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bradford Forster Academy's absence rate?
- Bradford Forster Academy's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bradford Forster Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bradford Forster 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.