Whitby School

Community school·Secondary school Whitby, North Yorkshire·YO21 1LA
Composite score
49.4
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#2,590
National rank
#243
In Yorkshire and The Humber
#34
In North Yorkshire
Top 81%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
39.5
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
32%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
51%
% EBacc grade 5+
7%
EBacc average points score
3.30

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Requires improvement
Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Requires improvement
Personal development
Requires improvement
Leadership and management
Requires improvement
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
167 first choices, 176 places
First choices per place
0.95
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
172
any preference, for 176 places
Applications from another council area
3%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.07
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8820220.9420230.9020240.8820250.952026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Whitby School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–19
Pupils on roll
1,041
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
26.9%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
1.5%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
13.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.9%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
13.4%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
44.3%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
18.4
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,359
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
94%
117 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
80%
Apprenticeship
7%
Employment
7%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Location

About Whitby School

Whitby School is a secondary school in Whitby, North Yorkshire, classified by the DfE as a community school. Around 1,041 pupils aged 11 to 19 attend the school. The school holds a 'Requires improvement' judgement from Ofsted. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 39.5 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 4.4 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

32% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 51% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Whitby School their first choice was offered one of its 176 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 94% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 13.4%. There are about 18.4 pupils per teacher. If you are considering Whitby School, it may be worth asking how leaders have responded to Ofsted's findings and what has changed since the inspection. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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