Bradford Forster Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Bradford·BD4 8RG
Composite score
40.9
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#3,091
National rank
#295
In Yorkshire and The Humber
#31
In Bradford
Top 97%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
32.7
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
24%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
42%
% EBacc grade 5+
6%
EBacc average points score
2.93

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Requires improvement
Personal development
Requires improvement
Leadership and management
Requires improvement
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
113 first choices, 181 places
First choices per place
0.62
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
258
any preference, for 181 places
Applications from another council area
2%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.02
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9820220.8220230.7920240.6020250.622026

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

Every child who put Bradford Forster 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
969
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
48.1%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
27.3%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
23.5%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
4.0%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
9.5%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
30.8%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.6
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,866
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
82%
186 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
78%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Bradford Forster Academy

Bradford Forster Academy is a secondary school in Bradford, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Church of England religious character. Around 969 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 32.7 — well below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 4.3 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.

24% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 42% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Bradford Forster Academy their first choice was offered one of its 181 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 82% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.5%. There are about 17.6 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 48% 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. Bradford Forster 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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