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Appleton Academy

All-through · Bradford · BD12 8AL

Data updated

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Needs attention

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Needs attentionAchievement: Needs attentionAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Expected standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Needs attentionEarly years: Expected standardPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 16 June 2026 · report published 16 July 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,207 pupils · 88% of 1,378 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy sponsor led
Age range
3–16
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
50.8% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
10.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
19.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
6.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.appletonacademy.co.uk
URN
145173

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 164 families named it first for 163 Year 7 places, 1.01 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 2.084 miles; distance decided places in 4 of the 4 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2022 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 16 June 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Needs attention. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8.5% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.79 first-choice applications per place

24 places offered · 19 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

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.01 first-choice applications per place

163 places offered · 164 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

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: Reception

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

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2025 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 0.296 miles

measured in a straight line.

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

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 2.084 miles

measured in a straight line.

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

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

52 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
63%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
12%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
107
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
106
England 105

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
35.1
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
42.3%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
27%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
2.8
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.

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

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school35.1
Median of its 12 closest peers36.4
Bradford average41.5
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with 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
Wodensborough Ormiston AcademyWednesbury · 83 miles awayNeeds attention38.6
Astrea Academy DearneRotherham · 24 miles awayGood40.2
Haggerston SchoolLondon · 168 miles awayGood52.7
Bridlington SchoolBridlington · 68 miles awayGood30.2
Manchester Enterprise AcademyWythenshawe · 32 miles awayUrgent improvement37.5
The Grange SchoolRuncorn · 48 miles awayNeeds attention36.4
Bolton St Catherine's AcademyBolton · 27 miles awayRequires improvement34.3
Buttershaw Business & Enterprise College AcademyBradford · 2 miles awayRequires improvement36.6
Woodlands Community CollegeSouthampton · 196 miles awayGood35.5
The Westleigh SchoolLeigh · 35 miles awayGood36.4
E-ACT Bristol Academy SouthBristol · 165 miles awayInadequate29.5
Bradford AcademyBradford · 3 miles awayRequires improvement33.1

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

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision.

Resourced provision
20 of 20 places taken full, or over capacity

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 76% (Bradford 37%, England 59%) · Any other White background 5% (Bradford 5%, England 7%) · Asian Pakistani 4% (Bradford 36%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 3% (Bradford 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Asian 3% (Bradford 2%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Bradford 2%, England 3%) · Black African 2% (Bradford 3%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Bradford 2%, England 3%) · Not recorded 1% (Bradford 2%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 1% (Bradford 2%, England 4%) · other groups together 2%

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)
8.5%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
24.8%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

43.14 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Bradford: 48.33 suspensions and 0.28 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
14.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

87% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 7% moved to another state school · 6% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

1.17% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

68.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 4.7 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 £46,552; 15.3% 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

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£8,777
Typical all-through school£7,789

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for all-through schools in brackets: Staff 69% (78%) · premises 9% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 15% (9%) · educational supplies 5% (6%) · bought-in professional services 8% (1%) · catering 4% (4%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £170,000; in-year balance -£112,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
86%
Continuing in education
82%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
1%

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)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher17%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications27.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work18.4%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways29.7%18.1%
Residents in very good health47.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier46.7%62.3%
Social housing33.5%17.1%
Privately rented19.8%20.5%
Detached houses9.3%22.9%
Flats16.3%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms7.3%21.1%
Households with no car or van35.2%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01010868 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£160,000348 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£115,000–£210,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (22)£297,500
Semi-detached (162)£185,500
Terraced (158)£123,000
Flat (6)£51,500

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

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (3.35 km, 2026 entry): 2,351 sales, median £180,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.48 km, 2025 entry): 135 sales, median £130,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

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
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
2an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
26an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
10an 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