Airedale Academy
Crewe Road, Airedale, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 3JU ·
At a glance
A state secondary academy for ages 11–18 in Castleford. Rated Requires improvement at its last graded Ofsted inspection (January 2024). GCSE results are well below the England average (Attainment 8: 33.8 vs 46.1, 2024/25). 144 families put it first for 155 places (September 2026 entry).
- Ages
- 11–18
- Pupils
- 1,008
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Academy trust
- CASTLEFORD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Andy Percival
- Opened
- Apr 2011
Inspection
Ofsted (framework in use until November 2025)
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
Safeguarding effective: Yes
Exam results
Department for Education performance tables
GCSE results, 2024/25 · 195 pupils
Attainment 8 over time
Progress 8 isn't published for 2024/25 because those pupils had no KS2 test results (tests were cancelled in 2020). Exams were not held in 2019/20 or 2020/21.
Admissions
Demand for places and how places are allocated
Year 7 entry, September 2026 (national offer day data)
144 of 144 first-preference applicants were offered a place (100%). 1 offers went to families living in another council area.
Catchment area
We don't have an official catchment boundary for this school. Many schools don't have one, and few councils publish boundaries as open data. We don't estimate catchments. Check the school's admissions policy or the council's admissions booklet.
Last distance offered
Not published nationally. Many councils publish the furthest distance offered for each school in their annual allocation reports. Past distances vary year to year with demand and sibling numbers, so they are not a guarantee.
Pupils
School census 2024/25
- Eligible for free school meals (last 6 years)49.7%
- English as an additional language7.9%
- SEN support16.9%
- Education, Health and Care plan3.9%
- The black tick shows the median for state-funded secondary schools in England.