Which school has the best GCSE results in Wakefield?

On 2025 Attainment 8, Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College tops the table in Wakefield with 51.0, against an England average of 46.0. 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 2025 results, the 2024/25 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 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020.

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 2025: secondary school league table

18 state secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on their 2025 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2024/25 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc average point score and cohort size for each school against the England average. 4 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 18 state secondary schools 2024/25 results

Secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on Attainment 8

18 of 18 schools have published 2025 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2024/25.

Secondary schools in Wakefield ranked on Attainment 8, 2025 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.0	45%	65%	4.09	–
1	Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College Ossett · Academy converter	51.0	55%	73%	4.13	295
2	The King's School Pontefract · Academy converter	49.9	60%	76%	4.52	206
3=	Horbury Academy Wakefield · Academy converter	48.7	53%	76%	4.27	196
3=	Trinity Academy Cathedral Wakefield · Academy converter	48.7	49%	69%	4.33	200
5	Castleford Academy Castleford · Academy converter	48.5	51%	67%	4.08	295
6	Carleton High School Pontefract · Academy converter	47.5	46%	68%	4.21	196
7	Outwood Grange Academy Wakefield · Academy sponsor led	47.2	53%	74%	4.10	342
8	Kettlethorpe High School Wakefield · Community school	46.9	47%	66%	4.46	315
9	St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College Pontefract · Academy converter	46.7	50%	69%	4.18	268
10	Crofton Academy Wakefield · Academy converter	46.5	47%	66%	4.00	198
11	St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School Wakefield · Academy converter	46.3	45%	66%	4.32	148
12	De Lacy Academy Knottingley · Academy converter	45.6	47%	65%	3.98	147
13	Outwood Academy Freeston Normanton · Academy converter	44.6	40%	67%	3.97	188
14	The Featherstone Academy Pontefract · Academy sponsor led	41.6	36%	67%	3.85	87
15	Minsthorpe Community College Pontefract · Academy converter	41.3	36%	54%	3.39	250
16	Outwood Academy Hemsworth Pontefract · Academy sponsor led	41.0	40%	62%	3.73	170
17	Outwood Academy City Fields Wakefield · Academy converter	38.8	29%	55%	3.51	143
18	Airedale Academy Castleford · Academy converter	33.8	25%	44%	2.81	195

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

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	33.9	0%	56
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Wakefield · Other independent school	43.8	0%	96
Silcoates School West Yorkshire · Other independent school	30.5	0%	53
Wakefield Girls' High School Wakefield · Other independent school	61.7	64%	108

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 2025 was 46.0.

Grade 5+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching a "strong pass" in both; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". EBacc APS is the average point score across the English Baccalaureate subjects, including pupils who did not enter them.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020, the baseline it is measured from, and the same applies to 2026. 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 2025: 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