The Skipton Academy
Gargrave Road, Skipton, BD23 1UQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Mark Cook
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Moorlands Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Skipton and Ripon
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 835
- Pupils on roll
- 736
- URN
- 141179
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01756792965
About this school
The Skipton Academy is a secondary academy in Skipton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 736 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Skipton 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
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 | 47 | 73 | 89 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.0 | 37.0 | 41.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.02 -0.43 to +0.39 | -0.62 -0.95 to -0.29 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 17.8% | 29.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 41.1% | 52.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 9% | 6.8% | 4.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
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 The Skipton 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 | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 39 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37 | 41.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.6 | 40.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 474 |
| 2023/24 | 590 |
| 2024/25 | 658 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Skipton Academy compares
The Skipton Academy ranked 32nd of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.6 | 7.8% | 26.3% | 736 | — |
| Skipton Girls' High School | 69.7 | 6% | 7.1% | 862 | 0.4 miles |
| Ermysted's Grammar School | 67.3 | 6.3% | 6.5% | 836 | 0.6 miles |
| South Craven School | 47.5 | 8.1% | 16.8% | 1,936 | 4.8 miles |
| West Craven High School | 37.4 | 12.6% | 28.6% | 528 | 6.8 miles |
| Carlton Keighley | 38.6 | 8.2% | 32.8% | 809 | 7.5 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)
- 26.29%
- English as an additional language
- 8.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.75%
- Persistent absence
- 22.45%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Skipton Girls' High School0.4 miles
Secondary · Skipton
-
Ermysted's Grammar School0.6 miles
Secondary · Skipton
-
South Craven School4.8 miles
Secondary · Keighley
-
West Craven High School6.8 miles
Secondary · Barnoldswick
-
Carlton Keighley7.5 miles
Secondary · Keighley
Other schools in Skipton
- Ermysted's Grammar School Secondary
- Skipton Girls' High School Secondary
- Upper Wharfedale School Secondary
- Brougham Street Nursery School Nursery
- Otley Street Community Nursery School Nursery
- Burnsall Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Carleton Endowed CofE Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Church of England Primary School Primary
- Cracoe and Rylstone Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School Primary
- Embsay Church of England Primary School Primary
- Gargrave Church of England Primary School Primary
- Grassington Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Skipton Academy teach?
- The Skipton Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Skipton.
- Who is the principal of The Skipton Academy?
- The principal of The Skipton Academy is Mr Mark Cook, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Skipton Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Skipton 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 The Skipton Academy?
- The Skipton Academy has 736 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Skipton Academy full?
- The Skipton Academy has capacity for 835 pupils and 736 on roll (88%), 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 The Skipton Academy a faith school?
- No. The Skipton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Skipton Academy a selective school?
- No. The Skipton Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Skipton Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Skipton Academy is part of MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Skipton Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Skipton Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Skipton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39 in 2022/23 and 41.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Skipton Academy compare with other schools in North Yorkshire?
- The Skipton Academy ranked 32nd of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Skipton Academy's absence rate?
- The Skipton Academy's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Skipton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Skipton 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.