Nidderdale High School
Low Wath Road, Pateley Bridge, Harrogate, HG3 5HL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Kath Jordan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Moorlands Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Skipton and Ripon
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 425
- Pupils on roll
- 404
- URN
- 149987
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01423711246
About this school
Nidderdale High School is a secondary academy in Harrogate. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 404 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Nidderdale High School, 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 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
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 79 | 72 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.5 | 41.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.15 -0.47 to +0.16 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35.4% | 30.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51.9% | 52.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 16.5% | 29.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.6 |
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 Nidderdale High 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 | — | 41.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.5 | 41.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.8 | 40.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 407 |
| 2024/25 | 395 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Nidderdale High School compares
Nidderdale High School ranked 31st of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 45% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.8 | 9.7% | 21% | 404 | — |
| Upper Wharfedale School | 48.3 | 7.9% | 13.8% | 351 | 9.8 miles |
| Outwood Academy Ripon | 46.6 | 7.4% | 27.8% | 609 | 10.0 miles |
| Ripon Grammar School | 70.9 | 4.9% | 4.3% | 957 | 10.0 miles |
| Harrogate Grammar School | 56.6 | 7.9% | 10.4% | 2,081 | 11.7 miles |
| Rossett School | 44.1 | 10.5% | 23.4% | 785 | 11.9 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)
- 21.01%
- English as an additional language
- 0.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.68%
- Persistent absence
- 26.27%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Upper Wharfedale School9.8 miles
Secondary · Skipton
-
Outwood Academy Ripon10.0 miles
Secondary · Ripon
-
Ripon Grammar School10.0 miles
Secondary · Ripon
-
Harrogate Grammar School11.7 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
-
Rossett School11.9 miles
Secondary · Harrogate
Other schools in Harrogate
Nidderdale High School ranks 5th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Harrogate.
- Harrogate Grammar School Secondary
- Harrogate High School Secondary
- Rossett School Secondary
- St Aidan's Church of England High School Secondary
- St John Fisher Catholic Academy Secondary
- Admiral Long Church of England Primary School Primary
- All Saints Church of England School Primary
- Beckwithshaw Community Primary School Primary
- Birstwith Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burton Leonard Church of England Primary School Primary
- Coppice Valley Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Nidderdale High School teach?
- Nidderdale High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Harrogate.
- Who is the headteacher of Nidderdale High School?
- The headteacher of Nidderdale High School is Ms Kath Jordan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Nidderdale High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Nidderdale High 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 many pupils are at Nidderdale High School?
- Nidderdale High School has 404 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Nidderdale High School full?
- Nidderdale High School has capacity for 425 pupils and 404 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 Nidderdale High School a faith school?
- No. Nidderdale High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Nidderdale High School a selective school?
- No. Nidderdale High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Nidderdale High School part of an academy trust?
- Nidderdale High School is part of MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Nidderdale High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.5 in 2023/24 and 41.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Nidderdale High School compare with other schools in North Yorkshire?
- Nidderdale High School ranked 31st of 41 secondary schools in North Yorkshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 45% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Nidderdale High School's absence rate?
- Nidderdale High School's overall absence rate is 9.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Nidderdale High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Nidderdale High 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 15 July 2026.