Armfield Academy
Free schools · 1,221 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 35.6
Academy sponsor led
Highfield Leadership Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 751of 1,200 places
- Free school meals
- 55.9%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 107
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement, 12 March 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Highfield Humanities College (URN 119732, until 15 October 2015).
What the data says
Highfield Leadership Academy has no sixth form. Of the 85 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 26% moved to a sixth form college, 45% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
18% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 30.0 against 46.1 across England and 37.0 in Blackpool, with 20% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Fine Art is unusually popular at GCSE: 32% of the year group took it, against 9% of pupils 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 Blackpool and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Highfield Leadership Academy | Blackpool | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 85 | 1,331 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 78% | 84% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 72% | 77% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 6% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 26% | 24% | 13% |
| — further education college | 45% | 44% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 18% | 11% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 5% | 5% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Highfield Leadership Academy | Blackpool | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 30.0 | 37.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 20% | 30% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42% | 51% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 25% | 18% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 2.67 | 3.16 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 52% | 48% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 23.5 | 29.7 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 37.0 | 43.9 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 15% | 11% | 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 | 103 | 96% | 89% | 5% | 20% | 49% |
| Mathematics | 103 | 96% | 88% | 11% | 22% | 52% |
| English Literature | 101 | 94% | 86% | 8% | 21% | 50% |
| Combined Science | 100 | 93% | 65% | 8% | 9% | 34% |
| History | 39 | 36% | 41% | 10% | 26% | 36% |
| Fine Art | 34 | 32% | 9% | 3% | 28% | 44% |
| Geography | 32 | 30% | 41% | 16% | 25% | 53% |
| French | 31 | 29% | 18% | 16% | 29% | 58% |
| Religious Studies | 28 | 26% | 31% | 25% | 32% | 43% |
| Computer Science | 13 | 12% | 13% | 8% | 30% | 23% |
| Design and Technology | 11 | 10% | 11% | 18% | 23% | 73% |
| Drama | 9 | 8% | 7% | 0% | 27% | 22% |
| Polish | 2 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| German | 1 | 1% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Health | 29 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 19 | — | — |
Where Highfield Leadership Academy is
Other secondary schools in Blackpool are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Blackpool’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in Blackpool
Blackpool Aspire Academy
Academy sponsor led · 799 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.7
Montgomery Academy
Academy converter · 1,192 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.0
South Shore Academy
Academy sponsor led · 550 pupils
60% stayed in education · Attainment 8 26.3
St George's School A Church of England Academy
Academy converter · 1,038 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 55.5
St Mary's Catholic Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,188 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.5
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.