Graham School
Woodlands Drive, Scarborough, YO12 6QW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HEARTWOOD LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Jonathan Newton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Hope Sentamu Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Scarborough and Whitby
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,299
- Pupils on roll
- 893
- URN
- 146769
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01723366451
About this school
Graham School is a secondary academy in Scarborough. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 893 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 159 | 211 | 188 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.4 | 36.1 | 38.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.42 -0.64 to -0.19 | -0.53 -0.73 to -0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 28.4% | 28.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 51.7% | 54.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 25.6% | 19.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
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 Graham 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 | North Yorkshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.4 | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.1 | 41.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.3 | 40.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,006 |
| 2023/24 | 1,045 |
| 2024/25 | 968 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Graham School compares
Graham School ranked 37th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.3 | 13.4% | 37.5% | 893 | — |
| St Augustine's Catholic School - a Catholic voluntary academy | 48.9 | 7.2% | 19.7% | 610 | 0.7 miles |
| Scalby Academy | 48.3 | 10.8% | 28.1% | 980 | 1.0 miles |
| Scarborough University Technical College | 44 | 8.9% | 22.1% | 275 | 1.3 miles |
| George Pindar School | 33.4 | 14.2% | 39.6% | 730 | 3.4 miles |
| Filey Academy | 35.7 | 13.1% | 34.7% | 461 | 7.6 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
-
Graded inspection report10 February 2026
- 27 June 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 37.5%
- English as an additional language
- 15%
- Overall absence
- 13.44%
- Persistent absence
- 41.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Augustine's Catholic School - a Catholic voluntary academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Scarborough
-
Scalby Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Scarborough
-
Scarborough University Technical College1.3 miles
Secondary · Scarborough
-
George Pindar School3.4 miles
Secondary · Scarborough
-
Filey Academy7.6 miles
Secondary · Filey
Other schools in Scarborough
Graham School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Scarborough.
- George Pindar School Secondary
- Scalby Academy Secondary
- Scarborough University Technical College Secondary
- St Augustine's Catholic School - a Catholic voluntary academy Secondary
- Childhaven Community Nursery School Nursery
- Barrowcliff School Primary
- Braeburn Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Brompton and Sawdon Community Primary School Primary
- Cayton Community Primary School Primary
- East Ayton Community Primary School Primary
- Friarage Community Academy Primary
- Gladstone Road Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Graham School teach?
- Graham School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Scarborough.
- Who is the headteacher of Graham School?
- The headteacher of Graham School is Mr Jonathan Newton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Graham School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Graham 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 Graham School?
- Graham School has 893 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Graham School full?
- Graham School has capacity for 1,299 pupils and 893 on roll (69%), 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 Graham School a faith school?
- No. Graham School has no designated religious character.
- Is Graham School a selective school?
- No. Graham School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Graham School?
- Graham School is part of HEARTWOOD LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Graham School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.4 in 2022/23 and 38.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Graham School rank locally?
- Graham School ranked 37th of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Graham School's absence rate?
- Graham School's overall absence rate is 13.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Graham School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Graham 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.