Highfield Leadership Academy
Highfield Road, Blackpool, FY4 3JZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- STAR ACADEMIES
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kim Greenwood
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Star Academies
- Constituency
- Blackpool South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 751
- URN
- 142469
- Local authority
- Blackpool
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01253965750
About this school
Highfield Leadership Academy is a secondary academy in Blackpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 751 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Highfield Leadership 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- 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 | 85 | 93 | 107 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.1 | 34.4 | 30.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.79 -1.11 to -0.48 | -0.96 -1.25 to -0.67 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 30.1% | 19.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 45.2% | 42.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 42% | 43% | 25.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
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 Highfield Leadership 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 | Blackpool average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 35.1 | 29.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.4 | 27.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 30 | 25.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 16.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 563 |
| 2023/24 | 631 |
| 2024/25 | 681 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highfield Leadership Academy compares
Highfield Leadership Academy ranked 6th of 7 secondary schools in Blackpool for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30 | 16.4% | 56% | 751 | — |
| South Shore Academy | — | 12.6% | 63.5% | 550 | 0.8 miles |
| St George's School A Church of England Academy | 55.5 | 5.5% | 33.6% | 1,038 | 0.9 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Academy | 41.5 | 7.9% | 37.1% | 1,188 | 2.7 miles |
| Lytham St Annes High School | — | — | — | 1,588 | 3.1 miles |
| Blackpool Aspire Academy | 36.7 | 9.6% | 66.5% | 799 | 3.4 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)
- 55.95%
- English as an additional language
- 11.2%
- Overall absence
- 16.4%
- Persistent absence
- 46.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
South Shore Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
St George's School A Church of England Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
St Mary's Catholic Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
-
Lytham St Annes High School3.1 miles
Secondary · Lytham St. Annes
-
Blackpool Aspire Academy3.4 miles
Secondary · Blackpool
Other schools in Blackpool
Highfield Leadership Academy ranks 6th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Blackpool.
- Blackpool Aspire Academy Secondary
- Montgomery Academy Secondary
- South Shore Academy Secondary
- St George's School A Church of England Academy Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic Academy Secondary
- Baines' Endowed Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackpool Gateway Academy Primary
- Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackpool St Nicholas CofE Primary School Primary
- Boundary Primary School Primary
- Christ The King Catholic Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Highfield Leadership Academy teach?
- Highfield Leadership Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Blackpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Highfield Leadership Academy?
- The headteacher of Highfield Leadership Academy is Mrs Kim Greenwood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Highfield Leadership Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highfield Leadership 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 Highfield Leadership Academy?
- Highfield Leadership Academy has 751 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Highfield Leadership Academy full?
- Highfield Leadership Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 751 on roll (63%), 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 Highfield Leadership Academy a faith school?
- No. Highfield Leadership Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Highfield Leadership Academy a selective school?
- No. Highfield Leadership Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Highfield Leadership Academy part of an academy trust?
- Highfield Leadership Academy is part of STAR ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Highfield Leadership Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 35.1 in 2022/23 and 30 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highfield Leadership Academy compare with other schools in Blackpool?
- Highfield Leadership Academy ranked 6th of 7 secondary schools in Blackpool for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highfield Leadership Academy's absence rate?
- Highfield Leadership Academy's overall absence rate is 16.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highfield Leadership Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highfield Leadership 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 2 July 2026.