Fitzwilliam Primary School
Second Avenue, Pontefract, WF9 5BA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- INSPIRE PARTNERSHIP MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sally Henshall
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Inspire Partnership Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Normanton and Hemsworth
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 224
- URN
- 144449
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977624490
About this school
Fitzwilliam Primary School is a primary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 224 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
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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 29 | 31 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 31% | 25% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 45% | 39% | 71% |
| Expected standard in maths | 34% | 40% | 57% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 59% | 35% | 68% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 99.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 95.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.30 | - | - |
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 Fitzwilliam Primary 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 | Wakefield average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31% | 59.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 25% | 62.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 63.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 232 |
| 2023/24 | 227 |
| 2024/25 | 227 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Fitzwilliam Primary School compares
Fitzwilliam Primary School ranked 78th of 98 primary schools in Wakefield for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 4.9% | 30.8% | 224 | — |
| King's Meadow Academy | 45% | 6.8% | 45.7% | 234 | 0.6 miles |
| Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane | 83% | 4.6% | 11.1% | 320 | 1.4 miles |
| West End Academy | 73% | 5.1% | 30.7% | 187 | 1.7 miles |
| Ackworth Mill Dam School | 68% | 4.6% | 16.9% | 225 | 1.8 miles |
| Outwood Primary Academy Newstead Green | 71% | 6.1% | 43.4% | 221 | 2.0 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)
- 30.81%
- English as an additional language
- 7%
- Overall absence
- 4.88%
- Persistent absence
- 10.92%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King's Meadow Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane1.4 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
West End Academy1.7 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Ackworth Mill Dam School1.8 miles
Primary · Pontefract
-
Outwood Primary Academy Newstead Green2.0 miles
Primary · Wakefield
Other schools in Pontefract
Fitzwilliam Primary School ranks 22nd of the 33 ranked primary schools in Pontefract.
- Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Ackworth Mill Dam School Primary
- Ash Grove Primary Academy Primary
- Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Primary
- Carleton Park Junior and Infant School Primary
- Cherry Tree Academy Primary
- Darrington Church of England Primary School Primary
- De Lacy Primary School Primary
- Featherstone All Saints CofE Academy Primary
- Featherstone Girnhill Infant School Primary
- Featherstone North Featherstone Junior and Infant School Primary
- Featherstone Purston Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Fitzwilliam Primary School teach?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of Fitzwilliam Primary School?
- The headteacher of Fitzwilliam Primary School is Mrs Sally Henshall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Fitzwilliam Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Fitzwilliam Primary 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 Fitzwilliam Primary School?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School has 224 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Fitzwilliam Primary School full?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 224 on roll (107%), 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 Fitzwilliam Primary School a faith school?
- No. Fitzwilliam Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Fitzwilliam Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Fitzwilliam Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Fitzwilliam Primary School?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School is part of INSPIRE PARTNERSHIP MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Fitzwilliam Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 31% in 2022/23 and 50% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Fitzwilliam Primary School rank locally?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School ranked 78th of 98 primary schools in Wakefield for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Fitzwilliam Primary School's absence rate?
- Fitzwilliam Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Fitzwilliam Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Fitzwilliam Primary 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 10 July 2026.