Outwood Academy Freeston
Favell Avenue, Normanton, WF6 1HZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Principal Lisa Allott
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Outwood Grange Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Normanton and Hemsworth
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 993
- URN
- 145937
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01924302560
About this school
Outwood Academy Freeston is a secondary academy in Normanton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 993 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Outwood Academy Freeston, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- 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 | 131 | 190 | 188 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.7 | 42.9 | 44.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.11 -0.35 to +0.14 | -0.18 -0.38 to +0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40% | 48.4% | 40.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 66.8% | 66.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 37.9% | 29.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.9 | 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 Outwood Academy Freeston 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 | 39.7 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.9 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.6 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 935 |
| 2023/24 | 1,012 |
| 2024/25 | 988 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Outwood Academy Freeston compares
Outwood Academy Freeston ranked 13th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.6 | 10.7% | 29.6% | 993 | — |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy | 46.7 | 8% | 22.6% | 1,470 | 2.1 miles |
| Outwood Academy City Fields | 38.8 | 9.2% | 38.8% | 928 | 2.6 miles |
| Crofton Academy | 46.5 | 10.2% | 32% | 1,045 | 2.7 miles |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 3.2 miles |
| Castleford Academy | 48.5 | 8.7% | 27.8% | 1,480 | 3.5 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)
- 29.55%
- English as an additional language
- 7.8%
- Overall absence
- 10.69%
- Persistent absence
- 31.31%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Outwood Academy City Fields2.6 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Crofton Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
The Featherstone Academy3.2 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Castleford Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Castleford
Other schools in Normanton
- Altofts Junior Academy Primary
- Lee Brigg Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Martin Frobisher Infant School Primary
- Newlands Primary School Primary
- Normanton All Saints CofE Infant School Primary
- Normanton Common Primary Academy Primary
- Normanton Junior Academy Primary
- St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Outwood Academy Freeston teach?
- Outwood Academy Freeston teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Normanton.
- Who is the headteacher of Outwood Academy Freeston?
- The headteacher of Outwood Academy Freeston is Principal Lisa Allott, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Outwood Academy Freeston been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Outwood Academy Freeston, 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 Outwood Academy Freeston?
- Outwood Academy Freeston has 993 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Outwood Academy Freeston full?
- Outwood Academy Freeston has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 993 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Outwood Academy Freeston a faith school?
- No. Outwood Academy Freeston has no designated religious character.
- Is Outwood Academy Freeston a selective school?
- No. Outwood Academy Freeston is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Outwood Academy Freeston part of an academy trust?
- Outwood Academy Freeston is part of OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Outwood Academy Freeston's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.7 in 2022/23 and 44.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Outwood Academy Freeston compare with other schools in Wakefield?
- Outwood Academy Freeston ranked 13th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Outwood Academy Freeston's absence rate?
- Outwood Academy Freeston's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Outwood Academy Freeston's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Outwood Academy Freeston'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.