Airedale Academy

Airedale Academy has been marked as requiring improvement across several key areas, including the quality of education, behavior, personal development, leadership, and management. The school, which is part of the Northern Ambition Academies Trust, is currently under the leadership of interim principal Dan Neal and is undergoing changes aimed at enhancing educational delivery. While most pupils exhibit good behavior, a minority disrupt lessons, and there are ongoing issues with the consistency of behavior management among staff. Significant attention is needed to address the identified gaps in the curriculum and improve teaching methodologies.

Strengths

• The school has a broad range of subjects for pupils to study.
• Pupils benefit from well-planned visits and a variety of enrichment activities.
• The sixth form is appreciated by students, offering vocational courses tailored to their needs.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum planning and teaching do not consistently support knowledge retention.
• Assessment practices do not adequately check pupils' understanding.
• Behavior management is inconsistent, leading to disruptions in learning.
• Personal development teaching lacks consistency, impacting pupils' understanding.

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 Airedale Academy attended 84.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 41.9% 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, 23.5% of pupils at Airedale Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Airedale Academy had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.9% 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, 21.8% of pupils at Airedale Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.7% 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 2023–24 Airedale Academy received £7,880 and spent £8,210 for each of its 1,039 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,186,000 (£2,104 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Castleford Academy Trust, income was £7,360 and spending £7,521 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Castleford · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

Airedale Academy is part of Castleford Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Airedale Junior Academy Castleford
• Airedale Infant Academy Castleford
• Oyster Park Primary Academy Castleford
• Glasshoughton Infant Academy Castleford
• Castleford Academy Castleford
• Castleford Park Junior Academy Castleford
• Castleford Three Lane Ends Academy Castleford
• Crofton Academy Wakefield

What is Airedale Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Airedale Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2024.

When was Airedale Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Airedale Academy was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does Airedale Academy have?

Airedale Academy has 1,008 pupils on roll.

What age range does Airedale Academy cover?

Airedale Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Airedale Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.4, and 35% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Airedale Academy?

Airedale Academy is at Crewe Road, Airedale, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 3JU.