Outwood Academy Hemsworth
Wakefield Road, Pontefract, WF9 4AB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr James Pape
- Sponsor
- Outwood Grange Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Normanton and Hemsworth
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,632
- Pupils on roll
- 1,101
- URN
- 145938
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01977624220
About this school
Outwood Academy Hemsworth is a secondary academy in Pontefract. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,101 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Outwood Academy Hemsworth, 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
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
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 179 | 173 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.7 | 39.7 | 41.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.24 -0.45 to -0.03 | -0.07 -0.28 to +0.15 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 32.4% | 40% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 58.4% | 62.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 31.8% | 31.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
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 Outwood Academy Hemsworth 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 | 39.7 | 39.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,064 |
| 2023/24 | 1,095 |
| 2024/25 | 1,108 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Outwood Academy Hemsworth compares
Outwood Academy Hemsworth ranked 16th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41 | 11.6% | 41.3% | 1,101 | — |
| Minsthorpe Community College | 41.3 | 10.1% | 30.7% | 1,609 | 2.6 miles |
| Outwood Academy Shafton | 42 | 11.7% | 38.3% | 1,377 | 3.0 miles |
| The Featherstone Academy | 41.6 | 9.6% | 41% | 556 | 4.1 miles |
| Crofton Academy | 46.5 | 10.2% | 32% | 1,045 | 4.3 miles |
| Outwood Academy Carlton | 41.5 | 12.3% | 38.4% | 1,109 | 4.5 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)
- 41.25%
- English as an additional language
- 4.9%
- Overall absence
- 11.6%
- Persistent absence
- 34.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Minsthorpe Community College2.6 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Outwood Academy Shafton3.0 miles
Secondary · Barnsley
-
The Featherstone Academy4.1 miles
Secondary · Pontefract
-
Crofton Academy4.3 miles
Secondary · Wakefield
-
Outwood Academy Carlton4.5 miles
Secondary · Barnsley
Other schools in Pontefract
Outwood Academy Hemsworth ranks 6th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Pontefract.
- Carleton High School Secondary
- Minsthorpe Community College Secondary
- St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- The Featherstone Academy Secondary
- The King's School Secondary
- Harewood Centre Nursery School Nursery
- 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
Common questions
- What ages does Outwood Academy Hemsworth teach?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Pontefract.
- Who is the headteacher of Outwood Academy Hemsworth?
- The headteacher of Outwood Academy Hemsworth is Mr James Pape, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Outwood Academy Hemsworth been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Outwood Academy Hemsworth, 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 Hemsworth?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth has 1,101 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Outwood Academy Hemsworth full?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth has capacity for 1,632 pupils and 1,101 on roll (67%), 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 Outwood Academy Hemsworth a faith school?
- No. Outwood Academy Hemsworth has no designated religious character.
- Is Outwood Academy Hemsworth part of an academy trust?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth 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 Hemsworth's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.7 in 2022/23 and 41 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 Hemsworth compare with other schools in Wakefield?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth ranked 16th of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% 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 Hemsworth's absence rate?
- Outwood Academy Hemsworth's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Outwood Academy Hemsworth's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Outwood Academy Hemsworth'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.