Kettlethorpe High School

About Kettlethorpe High School

Kettlethorpe High School’s headline Progress 8 score of -0.06 sits just below the Wakefield local authority average of 0, placing it squarely in the middle of the pack among the 21 state secondary schools in the area. That marginal difference means the school is performing almost exactly in line with the typical Wakefield school, though it ranks 11th out of 18 schools in the LA when measured by this metric. For context, the top-performing local school, Castleford Academy, achieves a Progress 8 score of 0.41, so Kettlethorpe is not among the highest flyers, but it’s also not lagging behind. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 46.6 and the fact that 52.4% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths (the basics95 measure) give a solid, unflashy picture. With 23.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average disadvantage, which makes its near-average progress score a respectable outcome.

Digging into the subject-level breakdown, Kettlethorpe’s Progress 8 scores are remarkably even across the board. English and maths both sit at 0.01 and 0.02 respectively, meaning pupils make almost exactly the progress you’d expect nationally. The EBacc element is also positive at 0.03, while the open bucket (other qualifications) drags slightly at -0.31. The school enters 67.6% of pupils for the EBacc suite of subjects, and 29.5% achieve a grade 5 or above across that combination. In its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2011, the school was rated Good overall, with leadership and management judged Outstanding. A subsequent ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed the school remains Good. This contrasts with its previous inspection in 2008, when it was rated Requires Improvement, so the trajectory has been upward. The school has no sixth form, so pupils leave at 16, and the capacity of 1750 is nearly full with 1672 pupils on roll.

The school is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 intake, 487 applications were received for 294 places, giving a ratio of 1.66 applicants per place, and 242 first-preference offers were made. Facilities include a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium, tennis courts, art studios, and a library, plus a chapel. Sports on offer include football, rugby, netball, hockey, dance, and gymnastics, while clubs range from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Model United Nations to coding, choir, and a gardening club. The school lists a wide range of SEND provisions, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language issues, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This breadth of support, combined with the school’s solid but not exceptional academic profile, makes it a strong choice for families in Wakefield who want a large, inclusive, well-led comprehensive where their child can access a good range of extracurricular activities and specialist support if needed.

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