The Featherstone Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Pontefract, Wakefield·WF7 5AJ
Composite score
52.0
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#2,286
National rank
#211
In Yorkshire and The Humber
#14
In Wakefield
Top 72%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
41.6
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
36%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
67%
% EBacc grade 5+
13%
EBacc average points score
3.85

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
96 first choices, 98 places
First choices per place
0.98
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
231
any preference, for 98 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.02
00.511.5
1 per place
1.1720220.8120230.9820240.9620250.982026

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

Every child who put The Featherstone Academy 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
11–16
Pupils on roll
524
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
41.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
3.6%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
21.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
7.6%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.2%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
27.1%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
14.8
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,998
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
93%
88 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
86%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
3%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About The Featherstone Academy

The Featherstone Academy is a secondary school in Pontefract, Wakefield, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. Around 524 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 41.6 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 1.0 points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

36% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 67% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made The Featherstone Academy their first choice was offered one of its 98 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 93% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.2%. There are about 14.8 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 41% 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. The Featherstone Academy does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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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