SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Ilkley, Bradford

Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 8TR

Sixth form Full
School website 01943608424

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 10 December 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

56.5 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

67% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

85% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

44% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.54confidence interval 0.38 to 0.69

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
37.7

England average 32.3

A level students
254

Pupils

Pupils on roll
2219
Places
1972
How full
Full — 2219 pupils against 1972 places
Girls / boys
1121 / 1098
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
19%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
7%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
5%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
14%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
97%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
90%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
5%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
67%
No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
297

After sixth form

Went to university
56%

England 50%

In education, work or training
87%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
233

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

43% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
77%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
212

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Bradford 001D, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
58%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
10%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
81%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
3%

England 17%

Households with no car
17%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
50%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
MOORLANDS LEARNING TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Carly Purnell
Local authority
Bradford
Ward
Ilkley
Constituency
Keighley and Ilkley
URN
136905

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
St. Mary's Menston, a Catholic Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter No grade 55 4.5 mi
Bingley Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 46.5 4.7 mi
Otley Prince Henry's Grammar School Specialist Language CollegeAcademy converter No grade 54.6 4.9 mi
Carlton KeighleyAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.6 5.1 mi
Guiseley SchoolFoundation school No grade 49.6 5.2 mi
The Holy Family Catholic School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 28.8 5.3 mi
Titus Salt SchoolCommunity school No grade 40.9 5.5 mi
Beckfoot SchoolAcademy converter No grade 53 5.6 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Archbishop Temple Church of England High SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 55.4
Westcliff High School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 75.6
West Kirby Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 71.3
Wirral Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter Good 2022 65.4
Bohunt School WokinghamAcademy sponsor led No grade 53.6
St Joseph's Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.1
Colchester Royal Grammar SchoolAcademy converter No grade 82.1
St Bede's SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2023 57.9

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.