Airedale Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,008 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.8
Academy sponsor led
The Featherstone Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 556of 600 places
- Free school meals
- 40.8%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 87
- Ofsted
- School remains Good, 24 March 2022Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Featherstone Technology College: With Physical Disability Resource (URN 108292, until 1 September 2012).
What the data says
Of the 88 pupils who finished Year 11 at The Featherstone Academy in 2023, 36% moved to a sixth form college, 48% to a further education college and 3% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 36% of leavers went to one, roughly twice the England rate of 13%.
Media Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 28% of the year group took it, against 4% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 41.6 against 46.1 across England and 45.1 in Wakefield, with 36% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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 Wakefield and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | The Featherstone Academy | Wakefield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 88 | 3,844 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 89% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 86% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 2% | 12% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 36% | 28% | 13% |
| — further education college | 48% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 6% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | The Featherstone Academy | Wakefield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 41.6 | 45.1 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 46% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 67% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 81% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.85 | 3.95 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 36% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 36.2 | 33.4 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 44.6 | 49.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 2% | 12% | 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 | 87 | 100% | 89% | 23% | 20% | 62% |
| Mathematics | 87 | 100% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 71% |
| English Literature | 85 | 98% | 86% | 12% | 21% | 66% |
| French | 71 | 82% | 18% | 4% | 29% | 24% |
| History | 64 | 74% | 41% | 11% | 26% | 53% |
| Combined Science | 60 | 69% | 65% | 0% | 9% | 40% |
| Physical Education | 34 | 39% | 11% | 6% | 24% | 50% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 29 | 33% | 8% | 10% | 21% | 52% |
| Biology | 27 | 31% | 23% | 11% | 45% | 85% |
| Chemistry | 24 | 28% | 23% | 17% | 47% | 92% |
| Media Studies | 24 | 28% | 4% | 4% | 20% | 54% |
| Physics | 24 | 28% | 23% | 8% | 46% | 92% |
| Business Studies | 19 | 22% | 18% | 5% | 20% | 42% |
| Geography | 18 | 21% | 41% | 22% | 25% | 72% |
| Fine Art | 16 | 18% | 9% | 13% | 28% | 81% |
| Computer Science | 14 | 16% | 13% | 14% | 30% | 79% |
| Drama | 3 | 3% | 7% | — | 27% | — |
| Portuguese | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare Skills | 20 | — | — |
| Tourism | 10 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 7 | — | — |
Where The Featherstone Academy is
Other secondary schools in Wakefield 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 Wakefield’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in Wakefield
Carleton High School
Academy converter · 1,026 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.5
Castleford Academy
Academy converter · 1,480 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.5
Crofton Academy
Academy converter · 1,045 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.5
De Lacy Academy
Academy converter · 853 pupils
70% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.6
Horbury Academy
Academy converter · 1,070 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.7
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.