De Lacy Academy

De Lacy Academy is a secondary school in Knottingley and part of Delta Academies Trust. This full inspection in June 2026 took place after significant leadership change, with a new principal and wider senior leadership team appointed from September 2025. The trust has supported the school through that transition. Safeguarding standards are met. The school's strongest work is in inclusion and personal development and wellbeing: pupils get swift, effective help to overcome barriers, including SEND and social, emotional and mental health needs, and they benefit from a well-designed personal development programme that builds understanding of equality, safety and future opportunities. Pupils enjoy school, behave well, and relationships are positive and respectful. Overall, pupils achieve broadly in line with national averages, and results improved from 2024 to 2025. Leaders have strengthened subjects such as mathematics and humanities and prioritised reading, while behaviour and attendance are moving in the right direction. However, overall attendance and persistent absence remain above national averages, and attendance needs further work in some year groups. Teaching is generally effective but not consistently as skilled and impactful as the school's best practice. The school also recognises that partnerships with some parents and carers need strengthening, particularly to support attendance. Next steps focus on making teaching consistently strong and raising attendance further.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Robust inclusion systems identify pupils with additional barriers, including SEND, swiftly.
• The school provides effective support for disadvantaged pupils and children in care.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is high quality and well considered.
• Pupils develop a detailed understanding of equality, safety and relationships through EPC lessons.
• Careers education and enrichment broaden pupils' horizons and raise aspirations.
• Pupils enjoy school and have positive, respectful relationships with staff.
• Pupils behave well, and bullying or discrimination is rare.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well designed, drawing on trust expertise.
• Teaching is evidence-informed and provides predictable, secure provision.
• Reading and phonics interventions help pupils catch up and access the curriculum.
• Attendance and behaviour are improving, with suspensions reducing from previously high levels.

Areas for Improvement

• Overall attendance remains lower than the national average.
• Persistent absence remains above the national average.
• Attendance still needs further improvement in particular year groups.
• Teaching is effective but not consistently as skilled and impactful as the school's most effective practice.
• Partnerships with some parents and carers need strengthening, including to support attendance.

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 De Lacy Academy attended 89.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.4% 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, 17.6% of pupils at De Lacy Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 De Lacy Academy had 18.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.9% 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, 16.8% of pupils at De Lacy Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 De Lacy Academy received £7,980 and spent £7,674 for each of its 870 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £773,000 (£889 per pupil).

Across all 62 schools of Delta Academies Trust, income was £7,459 and spending £7,562 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 Knottingley · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

De Lacy Academy is part of Delta Academies Trust, which runs 62 schools. The nearest others:

• England Lane Academy Knottingley
• Simpson's Lane Academy Knottingley
• The Vale Primary Academy Knottingley
• Willow Green Academy Knottingley
• Green Lane Primary Academy Leeds
• East Garforth Primary Academy Leeds
• Garforth Academy Leeds
• Highfields Primary Academy Doncaster
• Don Valley Academy Doncaster
• Goldthorpe Primary Academy Rotherham

What is De Lacy Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for De Lacy Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was De Lacy Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

De Lacy Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does De Lacy Academy have?

De Lacy Academy has 853 pupils on roll.

What age range does De Lacy Academy cover?

De Lacy Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are De Lacy Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.0, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is De Lacy Academy?

De Lacy Academy is at Middle Lane, Knottingley, West Yorkshire, WF11 0BZ.