Airedale Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,008 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.8
Academy converter
St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 762of 750 places
- Free school meals
- 29.6%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 148
- Ofsted
- Good, 29 March 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Thomas A Becket Catholic College Specialist Status In Humanities: With Autism Resource (URN 108299, until 1 November 2012).
What the data says
St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy has no sixth form. Of the 149 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 50% moved to a sixth form college, 36% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 50% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Religious Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 94% of the year group took it, against 31% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 46.3 against 46.1 across England and 45.1 in Wakefield, with 45% 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 | This school | Wakefield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 149 | 3,844 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 89% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 2% | 12% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 50% | 28% | 13% |
| — further education college | 36% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 4% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Wakefield | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 46.3 | 45.1 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 46% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 65% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 57% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.32 | 3.95 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 22% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 35.3 | 33.4 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 49.5 | 49.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 39% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 146 | 99% | 88% | 16% | 22% | 69% |
| English Language | 146 | 99% | 89% | 16% | 20% | 71% |
| English Literature | 145 | 98% | 86% | 23% | 21% | 74% |
| Religious Studies | 139 | 94% | 31% | 25% | 32% | 73% |
| Combined Science | 128 | 86% | 65% | 15% | 9% | 69% |
| History | 86 | 58% | 41% | 20% | 26% | 69% |
| Business Studies | 52 | 35% | 18% | 4% | 20% | 44% |
| Geography | 49 | 33% | 41% | 6% | 25% | 51% |
| Spanish | 38 | 26% | 19% | 24% | 27% | 82% |
| Physical Education | 37 | 25% | 11% | 14% | 24% | 59% |
| Italian | 28 | 19% | 0% | 14% | 53% | 89% |
| Computer Science | 26 | 18% | 13% | 12% | 30% | 58% |
| Fine Art | 22 | 15% | 9% | 0% | 28% | 73% |
| French | 21 | 14% | 18% | 5% | 29% | 76% |
| Biology | 18 | 12% | 23% | 28% | 45% | 94% |
| Chemistry | 17 | 11% | 23% | 41% | 47% | 100% |
| Physics | 17 | 11% | 23% | 29% | 46% | 94% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 14 | 9% | 8% | 0% | 21% | 21% |
| Polish | 13 | 9% | 1% | 92% | 84% | 100% |
| Music | 13 | 9% | 5% | 8% | 33% | 46% |
| Latin | 9 | 6% | 1% | 22% | 74% | 78% |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 14 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Wakefield
Carleton High School
Academy converter · 1,026 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.5
Castleford Academy
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81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.5
Crofton Academy
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84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.5
De Lacy Academy
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70% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.6
Horbury Academy
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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.