Boroughbridge High School

Boroughbridge High School is a smaller-than-average secondary school that inspectors found to be meeting expected standards across all areas, with safeguarding standards met. The school is part of a federation with King James's School and shares a governing body. It serves a pupil population with notably high proportions of pupils with SEND and EHC plans, and leaders were praised for knowing pupils well and building an inclusive, caring ethos. The headline findings are positive: behaviour and attendance have improved, the curriculum is broad and ambitious, and pupils are generally well prepared for post-16 destinations. Careers education and enrichment are strengths, and governance and staff development are effective. Pupils feel safe, bullying is rare, and support for vulnerable pupils is strong. There are still important areas to address. Disadvantaged pupils achieve well below national averages and the disadvantage gap remains large, while overall attendance and persistent absence, although improving, are above national averages. Teaching strategies, including adaptive teaching, are not yet consistently embedded in all subjects, and pupils' PSHE and British values knowledge needs further depth.

Strengths

• Broad and ambitious curriculum that builds knowledge over time and supports reading, writing and mathematics.
• Inclusive and welcoming ethos with strong pastoral support and a clear sense of belonging.
• Staff identify SEND and vulnerable pupils' barriers quickly and put effective support in place.
• Behaviour has improved through a clear, consistently applied policy; pupils are calm, respectful and focused.
• Attendance has improved, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Strong careers education and a wide range of enrichment opportunities accessible to all pupils.
• Effective governance and leadership, with good staff development and support.
• Pupils are generally well prepared for post-16 education, employment or training.
• Effective programmes support pupils who speak English as an additional language and early readers.

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment and progress remain well below national averages, and the disadvantage gap is large.
• Overall attendance and persistent absence remain above national averages, despite improvement.
• Teaching strategies, including adaptive teaching, are not embedded consistently across all subjects.
• Checking of pupils' understanding is inconsistent, so some pupils may fall behind.
• Pupils' knowledge of PSHE, fundamental British values and cultural diversity needs further depth.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are more effective in some subjects than others.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Boroughbridge High School attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 7.5% of pupils at Boroughbridge High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Boroughbridge High School had 15.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 26.0% of pupils at Boroughbridge High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 6.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Boroughbridge High School received £9,945 and spent £9,998 for each of its 388 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £595,000 (-£1,534 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in York (North Yorkshire) · North Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Boroughbridge High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Boroughbridge High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Boroughbridge High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Boroughbridge High School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Boroughbridge High School have?

Boroughbridge High School has 388 pupils on roll.

What age range does Boroughbridge High School cover?

Boroughbridge High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Boroughbridge High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.8, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Boroughbridge High School?

Boroughbridge High School is at Wetherby Road, Boroughbridge, York, North Yorkshire, YO51 9JX.