Leeds Jewish Free School

Leeds Jewish Free School is a small, caring school with a Jewish ethos that pupils and parents describe as genuinely inclusive and compassionate. Inspectors found that pupils feel safe, behave extremely well and attend consistently; persistent absence is below national averages, and pupils with SEND attend particularly well. Pupils attain highly overall, with recent GCSE results above national averages, and they are well prepared for the next stage of education, employment or training. Leadership is effective, governance is committed, staff wellbeing is well supported, and safeguarding standards are met. The main areas for development are in the precision and consistency of teaching. Some teachers do not check securely enough what pupils already know before moving on, and adaptation of tasks for pupils with barriers to learning, including SEND, is not always consistent. Gaps remain between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, although leaders are working strategically to reduce them. Pupils' understanding of different faiths remains underdeveloped, and the school has begun culture weeks and visitor work to address this. Overall, this is a strong and improving school with no urgent safeguarding or behavioural concerns.

Strengths

• Attendance is strong, with persistent absence below national averages and particularly good attendance for pupils with SEND.
• Behaviour is extremely positive; pupils are attentive, polite, respectful and rarely need reminders.
• Pupils attain highly in national tests and assessments, with recent GCSE results above national averages.
• Pupils with SEND achieve well and are well prepared for the next stage of education, employment or training.
• Leaders have effective strategic oversight and have driven a strong school improvement journey.
• Governors are committed, knowledgeable and provide both challenge and support.
• Staff feel well supported with their wellbeing and workload and have confidence in leaders.
• The school is inclusive and caring, with strong pastoral care and warm relationships between pupils and staff.
• Pupils feel safe from bullying, discrimination and harm, and bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.
• Personal development and enrichment are broad, including trips, careers guidance, music, sport and pupil leadership.
• Literacy is prioritised across the curriculum, and effective vocabulary teaching helps pupils succeed.
• Leaders identify pupils needing additional support accurately and work well with external professionals.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers do not check precisely what pupils know and can do before moving on to new learning, occasionally slowing progress.
• Adaptation of tasks for pupils with barriers to learning, including those with SEND, is not consistently applied.
• Gaps remain between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
• Pupils' understanding of different faiths remains underdeveloped.
• The curriculum is not yet consistently taught well enough to remove barriers swiftly for all pupils, notably disadvantaged pupils.

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 Leeds Jewish Free School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.4% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Leeds Jewish Free 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 Leeds Jewish Free School had 8.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% 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, 14.5% of pupils at Leeds Jewish Free School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.5% 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 Leeds Jewish Free School received £11,636 and spent £10,907 for each of its 129 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £220,000 (£1,705 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 Leeds Jewish Free School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Leeds Jewish Free School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Leeds Jewish Free School last inspected by Ofsted?

Leeds Jewish Free School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Leeds Jewish Free School have?

Leeds Jewish Free School has 131 pupils on roll.

What age range does Leeds Jewish Free School cover?

Leeds Jewish Free School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Leeds Jewish Free School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.6, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Leeds Jewish Free School?

Leeds Jewish Free School is at Henry Cohen Campus, Wentworth Avenue, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS17 7TN.