Winifred Holtby Academy

About Winifred Holtby Academy

If you’re a parent weighing up Winifred Holtby Academy, the numbers around parental demand tell a clear story. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed, with 569 applications for 283 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.01. That means just over two families applied for every available spot, and 267 first-preference offers were made from 278 first-preference applications. So while it’s not the most competitive school in Kingston upon Hull, it’s certainly one that local families are actively choosing. The school is a mixed, non-faith secondary for pupils aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form. It’s large, with 1,320 pupils against a capacity of 1,350, and a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 44.5 per cent. The headteacher is Karen Farmer, and the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2023, rated it Good overall, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019.

Academically, the picture is more mixed. Winifred Holtby’s Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year was -1.4, which is well below average nationally and ranks it 13th out of 14 schools in the local authority. The local authority average Progress 8 score is -0.44, so the school is significantly behind that benchmark. Attainment 8 sits at 35.4, and the basics measure — pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths — is 25.3 per cent. The EBacc entry rate is low at 14.9 per cent, and the EBacc average point score is 3.02. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, the school received Good grades across the board: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all scored 2. So while academic outcomes are below the local average, inspectors saw solid provision in the classroom and beyond.

On the practical side, the school offers a strong range of facilities, including a swimming pool, astro turf, tennis courts, a gymnasium, science labs, and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, hockey, football, athletics, netball, and martial arts, while clubs range from choir and orchestra to Debate, Young Enterprise, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The school also has extensive SEND provision, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families whose children need additional support, this breadth of provision is a real asset. Given its oversubscribed status and large size, it’s a school that suits families in Hull looking for a well-resourced, inclusive secondary with a clear improvement trajectory, even if its academic results currently lag behind the local average.

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