Abbey Park Academy

Abbey Park Academy continues to maintain a good performance as a primary educational institution. Pupils thrive within a supportive environment focused on respect, resilience, and responsibility, which fosters positive behavior and attitudes towards learning. The school has recently introduced new curriculum plans and successfully teaches core subjects like English and mathematics, reflecting strong subject knowledge among staff. Overall, parents generally have a favorable view of the school, although some concerns about communication persist.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate good character through values of respect, resilience, and responsibility.
• There is very little bullying, and most parents are satisfied with the school's response to any incidents.
• Strong emphasis on reading and mathematics, with effective teaching strategies in place.
• Special educational needs coordinator has expert knowledge that supports pupils with SEND effectively.
• Pupils engage positively with new curriculum plans and extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers' subject knowledge is variable in foundation subjects, impacting the quality of work set for 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 Abbey Park Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.8% of pupils at Abbey Park Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 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 Abbey Park Academy had 21.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 21.7% of pupils at Abbey Park Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Abbey Park Academy received £7,856 and spent £7,746 for each of its 224 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £243,000 (£1,087 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Northern Education Trust, income was £8,462 and spending £8,166 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 Halifax · Calderdale local authority: places and applications

Abbey Park Academy is part of Northern Education Trust, which runs 30 schools. The nearest others:

• Mount Pellon Primary Academy Halifax
• Merlin Top Primary Academy Keighley
• Chesham Primary Academy Bury
• Hazlehurst Primary Academy Bury
• Denton Community Academy Manchester
• Buile Hill Academy Salford
• Kearsley Academy Bolton
• Kirk Balk Academy Barnsley
• The Ferns Primary Academy Bolton
• Essa Primary Academy Bolton

What is Abbey Park Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Abbey Park Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Abbey Park Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Abbey Park Academy was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Abbey Park Academy have?

Abbey Park Academy has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does Abbey Park Academy cover?

Abbey Park Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Abbey Park Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 85% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Abbey Park Academy?

Abbey Park Academy is at Keighley Close, Illingworth, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX2 9DG.