Brighouse High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,317 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.0
Academy converter
The Halifax Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,461of 1,320 places
- Free school meals
- 41.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 205
- Ofsted
- Good, 14 June 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Halifax High at Wellesley Park (URN 107566, until 1 November 2013).
What the data says
The Halifax Academy has no sixth form. Of the 199 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 1% moved to a sixth form college, 41% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
Photography is unusually popular at GCSE: 46% of the year group took it, against 6% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 44.1 against 46.1 across England and 48.7 in Calderdale, with 32% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: 1% took an apprenticeship and 1% went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.
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 Calderdale and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | The Halifax Academy | Calderdale | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 199 | 2,826 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 92% | 92% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 91% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 49% | 30% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 1% | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 41% | 34% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | The Halifax Academy | Calderdale | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 44.1 | 48.7 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 51% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 70% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 15% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.54 | 4.20 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 35% | 27% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 41.0 | 38.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 45.8 | 52.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 80% | 15% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 205 | 100% | 89% | 16% | 20% | 66% |
| Mathematics | 205 | 100% | 88% | 8% | 22% | 58% |
| English Literature | 200 | 98% | 86% | 14% | 21% | 69% |
| Combined Science | 171 | 83% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 43% |
| History | 115 | 56% | 41% | 22% | 26% | 57% |
| Photography | 95 | 46% | 6% | 40% | 19% | 99% |
| Geography | 77 | 38% | 41% | 21% | 25% | 62% |
| Art and Design | 59 | 29% | 7% | 36% | 24% | 95% |
| 3D Design | 38 | 19% | 2% | 61% | 16% | 100% |
| Graphic Communication | 38 | 19% | 1% | 55% | 23% | 100% |
| Citizenship Studies | 29 | 14% | 3% | 28% | 19% | 86% |
| Physics | 28 | 14% | 23% | 36% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 28 | 14% | 23% | 54% | 47% | 100% |
| Biology | 28 | 14% | 23% | 46% | 45% | 100% |
| Religious Studies | 26 | 13% | 31% | 27% | 32% | 88% |
| German | 18 | 9% | 5% | 44% | 33% | 94% |
| Spanish | 9 | 4% | 19% | 44% | 27% | 100% |
| Arabic | 3 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Urdu | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Computer Science | 1 | 0% | 13% | — | 30% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 26 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 24 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 17 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Calderdale
Lightcliffe Academy
Academy sponsor led · 788 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 38.5
Park Lane Academy
Academy sponsor led · 481 pupils
78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.9
Rastrick High School
Academy converter · 1,774 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.9
Ryburn Valley High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,589 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.7
The Calder Learning Trust
Academy converter · 1,250 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.8
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.