De Lacy Academy

Academy converter·Secondary school Knottingley, Wakefield·WF11 0BZ
Composite score
57.0
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#1,609
National rank
#149
In Yorkshire and The Humber
#12
In Wakefield
Top 51%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
45.6
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
47%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
65%
% EBacc grade 5+
23%
EBacc average points score
3.98

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
99%
155 first choices, 161 places
First choices per place
0.96
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
200
any preference, for 161 places
Applications from another council area
16%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.01
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9420220.9320231.0020240.9720250.962026

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

Wakefield does not publish how far from the school the last child offered a Year 7 place lived, so there is no cut-off distance to show for De Lacy Academy. Ask the school or the council how places were allocated this year.

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

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
869
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
39.8%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
6.9%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
13.3%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.3%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
11.1%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
35.0%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.7
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,390
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
79%
139 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
70%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
5%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

De Lacy Academy at a glance

Located in Knottingley, Wakefield, De Lacy Academy is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. The school educates roughly 869 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Outstanding' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.6, broadly in line with the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 1.1 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.

47% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 65% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 99% of the families who made De Lacy Academy their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. After Year 11, 79% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.1%. There are about 17.7 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 40% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When comparing schools, it is still worth visiting in person to see whether the atmosphere and approach suit your child. 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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