Crofton Academy

About Crofton Academy

Crofton Academy’s Progress 8 score of -0.15 places it just below the Wakefield local authority average of 0, meaning pupils here make slightly less academic progress than their peers across the borough. That gap is modest, but it’s worth noting that the school ranks 15th out of 18 secondary schools in Wakefield, putting it in the bottom third locally. In the wider Yorkshire and the Humber region it sits around the middle of the pack, ranked 171st out of 306 schools. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 46.2 is a solid benchmark, and 44.5% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths — the basics measure that many parents focus on. The EBacc average point score of 3.93 is respectable, though only 19.6% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects, and just 8.1% achieved the full EBacc at grade 5 or above. In short, Crofton is a broadly average performer in a competitive local landscape, with room to improve on the progress its pupils make relative to the rest of Wakefield.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in February 2018, rated it Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. That rating has been maintained through a subsequent ungraded inspection in 2018, which confirmed the school remains Good. The previous graded inspection in 2014 also gave a Good rating, so there is a consistent track record of solid quality. Breaking down the 2023/24 Progress 8 data, the school’s strongest subject area is maths, where the progress score is +0.07 — slightly above average. English, by contrast, shows a negative progress score of -0.27, and the EBacc subjects as a group come in at -0.23. The open element of the curriculum, which covers non-EBacc qualifications, is -0.13. This suggests that while maths teaching is effective, there is a clear disparity in how well pupils progress in English and the EBacc subjects. The school’s Progress 8 banding is officially classified as Average, which aligns with the overall picture of a school that is neither struggling nor excelling.

Crofton Academy is a mixed, non-denominational secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form. It is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 416 applications for 213 places, and 227 of those were first preferences, meaning 210 first-preference families received an offer. The oversubscription ratio of 1.95 confirms strong local demand. The school has a broad range of facilities including science labs, art studios, music rooms, an astro turf pitch, and a chapel. Sports provision is extensive, with ten activities on offer including netball, rugby, swimming, and martial arts, and there are over a dozen clubs covering everything from chess and debate to gardening and eco club. SEND support is well developed, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder, plus a resourced provision. With 15.8% of pupils eligible for free school meals, Crofton serves a broadly representative intake and is a good fit for families in Wakefield seeking a well-subscribed, all-round state secondary with strong SEND support and a wide extracurricular offer.

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