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St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy

Secondary · Dewsbury · WF13 4LL

Data updated

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Requires improvement

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: Requires improvementSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 25 March 2025

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

992 pupils · 93% of 1,069 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
45.5% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
19.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
14% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
1.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.stjohnfisher.org.uk
URN
141470

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 117 families named it first for 166 Year 7 places, 0.70 first choices per place. We hold 8 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2019 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. At its inspection on 25 March 2025 Ofsted awarded no overall grade; the lowest of the four areas it judged was Requires improvement. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 11.5% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.70 first-choice applications per place

166 places offered · 117 first-choice applications · usually has places

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

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One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2026, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

174 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
34.8
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
46%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
25.3%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) D+
21.9
England 35

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school34.8
Median of its 12 closest peers43.9
Kirklees average46.6
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Accrington AcademyAccrington · 30 miles awayRequires improvement39.4
St Cuthbert Mayne SchoolTorquay · 236 miles awayGood39.7
Bellerive FCJ Catholic CollegeLiverpool · 58 miles awayExpected standard47.3
Woolwich Polytechnic School for GirlsThamesmead · 168 miles awayGood47.5
Co-op Academy SwintonManchester · 31 miles awayGood44.6
The Basildon Upper AcademyBasildon · 172 miles awayGood28.7
Lipson Co-operative AcademyPlymouth · 252 miles awayExpected standard43.5
Arena AcademyBirmingham · 80 miles awayGood44.5
Darwen Aldridge Community AcademyDarwen · 34 miles awayRequires improvement36.5
Stewards Academy - Science Specialist, HarlowHarlow · 153 miles awayRequires improvement38.9
Madeley AcademyTelford · 80 miles awayGood47.2
Burnside CollegeWallsend · 90 miles awayGood44.2

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 53% (Kirklees 53%, England 59%) · Asian Pakistani 21% (Kirklees 20%, England 5%) · Any other White background 7% (Kirklees 3%, England 7%) · Black African 4% (Kirklees 3%, England 5%) · Not recorded 4% (Kirklees 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Kirklees 2%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 3% (Kirklees 2%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 1% (Kirklees 6%, England 4%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Kirklees 1%, England 3%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Kirklees 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Kirklees 3%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Kirklees 1%, England 1%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
11.5%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
33.3%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

187.18 suspensions per 100 pupils and 7 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Kirklees: 26.52 suspensions and 0.21 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
17.8
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

82% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 8% moved to another state school · 10% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 4.64% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

62.1% of teachers took sickness absence, 12.3 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £50,420; 10.6% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
86%
Continuing in education
74%
Apprenticeship
10%
Employment
2%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
24%
Apprenticeship
13%
Employment
25%
Any sustained destination
67%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher30.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications25.3%18.1%
In managerial or professional work25.1%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways22%18.1%
Residents in very good health46.5%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier61.3%62.3%
Social housing13.1%17.1%
Privately rented25.1%20.5%
Detached houses14.8%22.9%
Flats20.7%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms26.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van23%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01034584 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£131,500198 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£90,000–£190,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (24)£266,000
Semi-detached (42)£176,500
Terraced (91)£130,000
Flat (41)£72,000

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
5an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
3an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
15an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
7an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools