The Featherstone Academy
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Wakefield
Pontefract Road, Pontefract, WF7 5AJ
58
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.4%
24.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
556
Capacity used
Nearly full93%
600 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
106 of 106 families who put it first got an offer
110
Places offered
247
Total applications
2.2
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 106 | 106 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 50 | 3 | ● 6% |
| 3rd preference | 42 | 1 | ● 2% |
| Later preferences (4th–5th) | 49 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 247 | 110 | 45% |
1st preference success by year
Wakefield lets families list 5 preferences. Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Julia McCluskey
- Address
- Pontefract Road, Pontefract, WF7 5AJ
- Phone
- 01977698000
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Ward / constituency
- Featherstone · Normanton and Hemsworth
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 138593
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 41% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 4% | — | — |
| SEN support | 20% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: RESILIENCE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
556 pupils · 600 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
24 March 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 567 pupils
Attendance
90.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
24.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
8.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.9%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 40.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.33 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 42% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 52% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.78 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 41.6 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 35.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 66.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 80.5% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.85 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 87 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 87 | 10% | 39% | 71% | |
| English Language | 87 | 23% | 48% | 62% | |
| English Literature | 85 | 12% | 45% | 66% | |
| French | 71 | 4% | 18% | 24% | |
| History | 64 | 11% | 44% | 53% | |
| Combined Science | 60 | 0% | 18% | 40% | |
| Physical Education | 34 | 6% | 29% | 50% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 29 | 10% | 41% | 52% | |
| Biology | 27 | 11% | 74% | 85% | |
| Physics | 24 | 8% | 75% | 92% | |
| Chemistry | 24 | 17% | 71% | 92% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 24 | 4% | 29% | 54% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Wakefield council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.