Appleton Academy
Woodside Road, Bradford, BD12 8AL
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EXCEED ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Rachel Cruise
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Exceed Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Bradford South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,378
- Pupils on roll
- 1,207
- URN
- 145173
- Local authority
- Bradford
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01274600550
About this school
Appleton Academy is an all-through academy in Bradford. It teaches children aged 3 to 16 and has 1,207 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. 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
- 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 | 59 | 51 | 52 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 55% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 14% | 12% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 67% | 81% |
| Expected standard in maths | 81% | 78% | 75% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 69% | 71% | 75% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 104.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.20 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 159 | 168 | 163 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.4 | 34.1 | 35.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.56 -0.78 to -0.33 | -0.87 -1.09 to -0.65 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 24% | 21.4% | 27% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 39.9% | 42.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 22% | 15.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
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 Appleton 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 | 59% | 56.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 55% | 58.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 59.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Bradford average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.4 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.1 | 41.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.1 | 40 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,237 |
| 2023/24 | 1,249 |
| 2024/25 | 1,254 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Appleton Academy compares
Appleton Academy ranked 29th of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.1 | 9.1% | 52.2% | 1,207 | — |
| Bradford Academy | 33.1 | 13.6% | 54.9% | 1,549 | 2.9 miles |
| Dixons Allerton Academy | 41.7 | 12.2% | 35.9% | 1,775 | 4.3 miles |
| The Halifax Academy | 44.1 | 8.5% | 37.8% | 1,461 | 5.2 miles |
| Batley Grammar School | 45.5 | 8.4% | 29.5% | 980 | 5.5 miles |
| The Calder Learning Trust | — | 8.8% | 24.5% | 1,250 | 8.4 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)
- 52.18%
- English as an additional language
- 10.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.05%
- Persistent absence
- 26.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bradford Academy2.9 miles
All-through · Bradford
-
Dixons Allerton Academy4.3 miles
All-through · Bradford
-
The Halifax Academy5.2 miles
All-through · Halifax
-
Batley Grammar School5.5 miles
All-through · Batley
-
The Calder Learning Trust8.4 miles
All-through · Hebden Bridge
Other schools in Bradford
Appleton Academy ranks 45th of the 110 ranked primary schools in Bradford, and Appleton Academy ranks 23rd of the 28 ranked secondary schools in Bradford.
- Bradford Academy All-through
- Dixons Allerton Academy All-through
- Abbey Green Nursery School Nursery
- Canterbury Nursery School and Centre for Children and Families Nursery
- Lilycroft Nursery School Nursery
- Midland Road Nursery School Nursery
- St Edmund's Nursery School & Children's Centre Nursery
- All Saints CofE Primary School Primary
- Atlas Community Primary School Primary
- Bankfoot Primary School Primary
- Barkerend Primary Leadership Academy Primary
- Beckfoot Allerton Primary School and Nursery Primary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Ms Helen Jones (until July 2026).
- Headteacher changed from Ms Helen Jones to Ms Rachel Cruise recorded 18 Jul 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Appleton Academy teach?
- Appleton Academy teaches children aged 3 to 16. It is an all-through school in Bradford.
- Who is the headteacher of Appleton Academy?
- The headteacher of Appleton Academy is Ms Rachel Cruise, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Appleton Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Appleton 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 big is Appleton Academy?
- Appleton Academy has 1,207 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 16.
- Is Appleton Academy full?
- Appleton Academy has capacity for 1,378 pupils and 1,207 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 Appleton Academy a faith school?
- No. Appleton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Appleton Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Appleton Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Appleton Academy?
- Appleton Academy is part of EXCEED ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Appleton Academy have?
- The schools register lists Appleton Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Appleton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 59% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Appleton Academy rank locally?
- Appleton Academy ranked 29th of 35 secondary schools in Bradford for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Appleton Academy's absence rate?
- Appleton Academy's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Appleton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Appleton 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 18 July 2026.