Which school has the best GCSE results in Wakefield?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Ark The King's School tops the table in Wakefield with 51.8, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Wakefield schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Wakefield show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Wakefield GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

18 state secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 3 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 18 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on Attainment 8

18 of 18 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1 , up 1 place since 2025	Ark The King's School Pontefract · Academy converter	51.8	18%	57%	79%	–	208
2 , up 1 place since 2025	Horbury Academy Wakefield · Academy converter	51.0	19%	53%	77%	–	225
3	Trinity Academy Cathedral Wakefield · Academy converter	50.9	16%	53%	73%	–	195
4 , down 3 places since 2025	Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College Ossett · Academy converter	49.8	15%	51%	73%	–	300
5 , up 5 places since 2025	Crofton Academy Wakefield · Academy converter	49.3	24%	48%	71%	–	203
6 , up 1 place since 2025	Outwood Grange Academy Wakefield · Academy sponsor led	49.2	17%	57%	78%	–	357
7 , up 4 places since 2025	St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School Wakefield · Academy converter	49.1	15%	51%	66%	–	142
8	Kettlethorpe High School Wakefield · Community school	48.8	16%	57%	68%	–	342
9 , down 4 places since 2025	Castleford Academy Castleford · Academy converter	46.8	14%	48%	70%	–	287
10 , down 1 place since 2025	St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College Pontefract · Academy converter	46.1	13%	42%	63%	–	272
11 , up 1 place since 2025	De Lacy Academy Knottingley · Academy converter	45.0	12%	48%	64%	–	160
12 , up 3 places since 2025	Minsthorpe Community College Pontefract · Academy converter	44.7	10%	41%	60%	–	263
13	Outwood Academy Freeston Normanton · Academy converter	44.6	12%	51%	68%	–	209
14 , up 3 places since 2025	Outwood Academy City Fields Wakefield · Academy converter	44.5	10%	52%	66%	–	169
15 , down 9 places since 2025	Ark Carleton High School Pontefract · Academy converter	44.3	13%	45%	64%	–	199
16 , down 2 places since 2025	The Featherstone Academy Pontefract · Academy sponsor led	39.7	11%	39%	56%	–	94
17 , up 1 place since 2025	Airedale Academy Castleford · Academy converter	39.4	9%	35%	60%	–	201
18 , down 2 places since 2025	Outwood Academy Hemsworth Pontefract · Academy sponsor led	37.5	3%	33%	53%	–	203

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Wakefield with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Ackworth School West Yorkshire · Other independent school	38.0	2%	60
Queen Elizabeths School Wakefield Wakefield · Other independent school	45.4	0%	110
Silcoates School West Yorkshire · Other independent school	33.2	0%	51

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Wakefield on our composite score

Wakefield GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Wakefield with published GCSE results

More about schools in Wakefield

Wakefield GCSE results: common questions