Heckmondwike Grammar School

Heckmondwike Grammar School is a large, high-performing secondary school and sixth form within Heckmondwike Grammar Academy Trust. This full section 5 inspection found the school reaching a strong standard across most areas: achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils are proud to attend, feel safe, behave respectfully, and achieve highly, including in national GCSE results that are among the best nationally. Leaders have built a rich, ambitious curriculum, teaching is strong, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve well. Attendance is high, behaviour is calm and self-disciplined, and pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities and effective careers education. The sixth form has improved, with many students achieving above national averages, but post-16 provision is judged at the expected standard rather than strong. Concerns are largely focused on the sixth form: some students with low prior attainment do not achieve as well as their peers nationally, support for them is at an early stage, and teachers sometimes move on before checking all students have understood new material. Leaders should continue improving sixth-form progress, especially for students needing additional support by the end of Year 13, and refine pastoral support to sustain high attendance, particularly for pupils with SEND.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly and produce very high-quality work across a broad range of subjects.
• GCSE results, including for disadvantaged pupils, are among the best nationally.
• Pupils with SEND make the same progress as their peers and achieve well.
• Disadvantaged pupils perform strongly across English and maths, Attainment 8 and Progress 8.
• Attendance is high, with overall and persistent absence well below national averages.
• Pupils behave calmly and respectfully, with rare serious misbehaviour and very low suspension rates.
• Pupils feel safe and bullying or discrimination is rare and handled effectively.
• Leaders provide a rich, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum.
• Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and deliver high-quality teaching.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported effectively in school and through external agencies.
• Staff receive effective professional development focused on subject expertise and supporting pupils with barriers to learning.
• Pupils have access to over 100 clubs and activities, with strong participation from disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The personal development programme is well-sequenced and matched to pupils' age and context.
• Careers education is well developed, with tailored pathways that prepare pupils well for their next steps.
• Governance is highly effective and provides appropriate support and challenge to leaders.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Post-16 provision is only at the expected standard, with sixth-form progress not yet consistently strong.
• Some sixth-form students with low prior attainment do not achieve as well as their peers nationally.
• Extra support for sixth-form students who need help to reach their potential is at an early stage, and its impact is not yet secure.
• In the sixth form, teachers sometimes do not check carefully enough that all students have understood new material before moving on, leading to gaps in knowledge.
• Leaders should continue to improve the progress and achievement of sixth-form students, especially those requiring additional support by the end of Year 13.
• Pastoral support should be further refined to achieve and sustain high standards of attendance, especially for pupils with SEND.

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 Heckmondwike Grammar School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 4.6% 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, 2.5% of pupils at Heckmondwike Grammar School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Heckmondwike Grammar School had 19.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Heckmondwike Grammar School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.3% 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 2024–25 Heckmondwike Grammar School received £6,188 and spent £6,911 for each of its 1,468 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,857,000 (£1,946 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is Heckmondwike Grammar School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Heckmondwike Grammar School last inspected by Ofsted?

Heckmondwike Grammar School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Heckmondwike Grammar School have?

Heckmondwike Grammar School has 1,522 pupils on roll.

What age range does Heckmondwike Grammar School cover?

Heckmondwike Grammar School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Heckmondwike Grammar School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 78.9, and 100% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Heckmondwike Grammar School?

Heckmondwike Grammar School is at High Street, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, WF16 0AH.