Brighouse High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,317 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.0
Academy sponsor led
Lightcliffe Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 788of 1,350 places
- Free school meals
- 35.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 175
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 24 September 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School and Sports College (URN 107578, until 1 August 2011).
What the data says
Lightcliffe Academy has no sixth form. Of the 236 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 14% moved to a sixth form college, 44% to a further education college and 7% started an apprenticeship.
Food Preparation and Nutrition is unusually popular at GCSE: 34% of the year group took it, against 8% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 38.5 against 46.1 across England and 48.7 in Calderdale, with 25% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
As an 11–16 school, Lightcliffe Academy is judged on where pupils go at 16 rather than on A level results.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Calderdale and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Lightcliffe Academy | Calderdale | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 236 | 2,826 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 92% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 82% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 24% | 30% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 14% | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 44% | 34% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Lightcliffe Academy | Calderdale | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 38.5 | 48.7 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 51% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 48% | 70% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 21% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.16 | 4.20 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 21% | 27% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 33.1 | 38.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 39.9 | 52.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 2% | 15% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 176 | 100% | 89% | 8% | 20% | 55% |
| Mathematics | 175 | 100% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 57% |
| English Literature | 173 | 99% | 86% | 3% | 21% | 45% |
| Combined Science | 170 | 97% | 65% | 6% | 9% | 50% |
| History | 114 | 65% | 41% | 7% | 26% | 32% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 60 | 34% | 8% | 3% | 21% | 45% |
| Business Studies | 50 | 29% | 18% | 10% | 20% | 62% |
| Spanish | 49 | 28% | 19% | 2% | 27% | 39% |
| Geography | 42 | 24% | 41% | 5% | 25% | 43% |
| Art and Design | 23 | 13% | 7% | 9% | 24% | 65% |
| Religious Studies | 15 | 9% | 31% | 13% | 32% | 47% |
| Photography | 14 | 8% | 6% | 0% | 19% | 79% |
| Design and Technology | 11 | 6% | 11% | 9% | 23% | 73% |
| Computer Science | 9 | 5% | 13% | 0% | 30% | 78% |
| French | 8 | 5% | 18% | 0% | 29% | 75% |
| Biology | 3 | 2% | 23% | — | 45% | — |
| Drama | 1 | 1% | 7% | — | 27% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Studies | 56 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 51 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 44 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 40 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 27 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 20 | — | — |
| Multimedia | 19 | — | — |
| Small Business Management | 17 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 5 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 1 | — | — |
Where Lightcliffe Academy is
Other secondary schools in Calderdale are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Calderdale’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in Calderdale
Park Lane Academy
Academy sponsor led · 481 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.9
Rastrick High School
Academy converter · 1,774 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.9
Ryburn Valley High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,589 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.7
The Calder Learning Trust
Academy converter · 1,250 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.8
The Crossley Heath School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,179 pupils
97% stayed in education · Attainment 8 74.5
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.