Holderness Academy

About Holderness Academy

Holderness Academy was rated Good across all areas in its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2025, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2023. The school's Progress 8 score of -0.27 tells the main academic story: pupils achieve about a quarter of a grade less per subject than the national average, and the score is below the East Riding of Yorkshire local authority average of -0.13. This places the school 12th out of 18 similar schools in the area, putting it in the bottom third locally. The Attainment 8 score sits at 42.8, meaning the average pupil achieves just under a grade 5 across their best eight GCSEs. There are some bright spots in the data: English progress is almost exactly in line with the national average at -0.02, and 65.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, which is a solid benchmark for a school serving a community where 21.3% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

At A-level, the sixth form is small with just 19 pupils in the data, and it also earned a Good rating from Ofsted. The average points per entry is 29.45, which translates to a grade C, and the best three A-levels average out at a C+ grade. The value added score of 0.06 suggests pupils make roughly the progress you would expect given their starting points, and the progress banding is rated as Average. The school's EBacc entry rate is 43.5%, which is reasonable, though only 20.1% of pupils actually achieve the EBacc at a grade 4 or above. The Parent View survey, based on 487 responses, shows that 75% of parents would recommend the school. Strong majorities agree that their child is happy (80% agree or strongly agree) and that the school has high expectations (85% agree or strongly agree). However, only 55% of parents feel concerns are dealt with properly, and 25% would not recommend the school, suggesting some areas of dissatisfaction.

The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 202 applications for 150 places and 141 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.35. Facilities include art studios, science labs, music rooms, a sports hall, and a chapel, and the school offers a wide range of sports from rugby to swimming, plus clubs like coding, Model UN, and Young Enterprise. SEND provision is extensive, covering specific learning difficulties, autism, speech and language needs, physical disabilities, and a resourced provision. The school does not have a nursery or official sixth form, though it does offer post-16 study. Holderness Academy will suit families who value the recent Ofsted improvement and want a secondary with a broad range of extracurricular opportunities, but who are realistic about academic outcomes that sit below both national and local averages.

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