Cockburn School
Parkside, Gipsy Lane, Leeds, LS11 5TT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- COCKBURN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Robert Dixon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Cockburn Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Leeds South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,111
- Pupils on roll
- 1,248
- URN
- 142585
- Local authority
- Leeds
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01132719962
About this school
Cockburn School is a secondary academy in Leeds. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,248 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
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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 221 | 228 | 274 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.1 | 48.4 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.61 +0.42 to +0.79 | +0.72 +0.53 to +0.90 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 53.9% | 45.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 68.4% | 68.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 17% | 18% | 19.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
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 Cockburn 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 | Leeds average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48.1 | 39.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.4 | 39.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 39.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,273 |
| 2023/24 | 1,274 |
| 2024/25 | 1,277 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cockburn School compares
Cockburn School ranked 18th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.1 | 8.2% | 38.9% | 1,248 | — |
| Cockburn John Charles Academy | 43.8 | 8.9% | 56.2% | 1,169 | 0.9 miles |
| Cockburn Laurence Calvert Academy | — | 10.1% | 46.7% | 1,023 | 1.4 miles |
| University Technical College Leeds | 46.2 | 5.5% | 28% | 546 | 2.2 miles |
| The Morley Academy | 54.6 | 7.1% | 22.2% | 1,410 | 2.3 miles |
| The Ruth Gorse Academy | 49.1 | 6.7% | 52.4% | 1,265 | 2.3 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)
- 38.92%
- English as an additional language
- 19.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.17%
- Persistent absence
- 21.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Cockburn John Charles Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
Cockburn Laurence Calvert Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
University Technical College Leeds2.2 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
The Morley Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Leeds
-
The Ruth Gorse Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Leeds
Other schools in Leeds
Cockburn School ranks 14th of the 33 ranked secondary schools in Leeds.
- Abbey Grange Church of England Academy Secondary
- Allerton Grange School Secondary
- Allerton High School Secondary
- Benton Park School Secondary
- Bishop Young Church of England Academy Secondary
- Bruntcliffe Academy Secondary
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Secondary
- Co-op Academy Leeds Secondary
- Cockburn John Charles Academy Secondary
- Cockburn Laurence Calvert Academy Secondary
- Corpus Christi Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Dixons Unity Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cockburn School teach?
- Cockburn School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Leeds.
- Who is the headteacher of Cockburn School?
- The headteacher of Cockburn School is Mr Robert Dixon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cockburn School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cockburn 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 Cockburn School?
- Cockburn School has 1,248 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Cockburn School full?
- Cockburn School has capacity for 1,111 pupils and 1,248 on roll (112%), 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 Cockburn School a faith school?
- No. Cockburn School has no designated religious character.
- Is Cockburn School a selective school?
- No. Cockburn School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Cockburn School?
- Cockburn School is part of COCKBURN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Cockburn School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.1 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cockburn School rank locally?
- Cockburn School ranked 18th of 42 secondary schools in Leeds for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cockburn School's absence rate?
- Cockburn School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cockburn School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cockburn 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 2 July 2026.