Ark Carleton High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Wakefield
Green Lane, Pontefract, WF8 3NW
68
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Improved significantly
No graded inspection
Application demand
88%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.8%
18.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,026
Capacity used
Nearly full98%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
88%
1st preference success rate
198 of 224 families who put it first got an offer
206
Places offered
470
Total applications
2.3
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 224 | 198 | ● 88% |
| 2nd preference | 164 | 8 | ● 5% |
| 3rd preference | 52 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Later preferences (4th–5th) | 30 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 470 | 206 | 44% |
1st preference success by year
Wakefield lets families list 5 preferences. 6 applications came from outside the council area (2 offered). 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 converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Shaheen Shariff
- Address
- Green Lane, Carleton, Pontefract, WF8 3NW
- Phone
- 01977781555
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Ward / constituency
- Pontefract South · Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 139501
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 31% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 3% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ARK SCHOOLS
1,026 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
06 November 2024
Ungraded inspection
Improved significantly
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,062 pupils
Attendance
92.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
18.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.8%
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 | 47.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.12 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 50% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 70% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.28 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 47.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 45.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 67.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 44.9% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.21 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 196 | — |
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 | 194 | 17% | 50% | 73% | |
| English Language | 194 | 26% | 63% | 74% | |
| English Literature | 194 | 25% | 59% | 71% | |
| Combined Science | 167 | 7% | 42% | 60% | |
| History | 132 | 33% | 60% | 67% | |
| Spanish | 54 | 19% | 67% | 78% | |
| Geography | 45 | 22% | 51% | 67% | |
| Art and Design | 45 | 38% | 73% | 87% | |
| French | 34 | 29% | 85% | 91% | |
| Physical Education | 23 | 17% | 48% | 78% | |
| Biology | 19 | 84% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 19 | 84% | 100% | 100% |
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.