Graham School
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Graham School is a sponsored academy in Scarborough for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 893 pupils and room for 1,299. About 43 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 13 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 36% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in February 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Woodlands Drive, Scarborough, YO12 6QW01723 366451gra.hlt.academyMr Jonathan Newton headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 10 February 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 27 June 2023 | Academy First Section 5 | Requires improvement |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
188 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019† | 2018† | North Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 188 | 211 | 159 | 173 | 188 | 193 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 38.3 | 36.1 | 38.4 | 34.9 | 35.5 | 39.1 | 47.1 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.53 | -0.42 | -0.56 | -0.69 | -0.41 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 28% | 28% | 36% | 22% | 22% | 28% | 48% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 55% | 52% | 55% | 47% | 41% | 49% | 68% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.27 | 3.14 | 3.23 | 2.85 | 3.07 | 3.25 | 4.17 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 19% | 26% | 27% | 10% | 23% | 18% | 37% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 30.1 | 25.0 | 30.7 | 28.4 | 27.6 | 31.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 42.2 | 41.0 | 40.9 | 39.6 | 40.1 | 43.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 21.2 | 25.2 | 27.0 | 19.7 | 21.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 58.0 | 59.4 | 66.4 | 53.3 | 55.7 | – | – |
† These results are for Graham School, the school this one replaced in March 2019. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 21 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Engineering (13% here, 46% across England), Food Preparation & Nutrition (19% here, 52% across England), French (33% here, 60% across England), Geography (25% here, 51% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 187 | 8% | 31% | 60% | 53% | 2,932 of 3,211 |
| English Language | 187 | 12% | 55% | 70% | 54% | 1,351 of 3,210 |
| English Literature | 184 | 4% | 34% | 56% | 58% | 2,956 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 163 | 5% | 27% | 51% | 36% | 2,112 of 3,084 |
| History | 104 | 12% | 38% | 44% | 52% | 2,396 of 3,126 |
| Social Studies | 61 | 2% | 30% | 46% | 54% | 929 of 1,043 |
| Geography | 60 | 10% | 25% | 37% | 51% | 2,815 of 3,116 |
| Art and Design | 51 | 33% | 49% | 71% | 58% | 1,888 of 2,818 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 47 | 2% | 19% | 40% | 52% | 1,025 of 1,098 |
| Film Studies | 41 | 17% | 49% | 54% | 52% | 70 of 122 |
| Religious Studies | 39 | 13% | 39% | 59% | 60% | 1,606 of 1,825 |
| Spanish | 33 | 12% | 30% | 39% | 54% | 1,688 of 1,941 |
| Engineering | 24 | 4% | 13% | 33% | 46% | 46 of 51 |
| Biology | 22 | 32% | 68% | 68% | 82% | 2,044 of 2,570 |
| French | 21 | 14% | 33% | 33% | 60% | 1,757 of 1,974 |
| Physics | 18 | 22% | 78% | 83% | 82% | – |
| Chemistry | 18 | 39% | 83% | 89% | 81% | – |
| Computer Science | 16 | 6% | 38% | 50% | 56% | – |
| Design & Technology | 11 | 0% | 0% | 18% | 50% | – |
| Music | 11 | 0% | 0% | 9% | 61% | – |
| Drama | 9 | 11% | 22% | 33% | 60% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
249 places were empty (21% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 4% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to North Yorkshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 46 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for secondary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (55), Moderate learning difficulty (22), Autistic spectrum disorder (21), language and communications needs (21), Specific learning difficulty (12), Other difficulty or disability (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 893 | 968 | 1,045 | 1,006 | 973 | 968 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 43% | 37% | 35% | 32% | 30% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 15% | 15% | 13% | 12% | 9% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 7% | 6% | 11% | 11% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 4% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 86.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 13.4% | 14.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% | 9.1% | 10.2% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 7.9% | 8.0% | 7.0% | 8.0% | 5.5% | – | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 5.5% | 6.1% | 6.2% | 5.7% | 3.6% | – | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 41.0% | 45.2% | 41.3% | 44.9% | 26.3% | 30.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 41.1 | 29.7 | 13.9 | 13.5 | 12.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 159 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 85%, compared with 92% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 90% | 84% | 87% | 89% |
| Education | 83% | 73% | 75% | 78% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 3% | 6% | 2% |
| Work | 4% | 8% | 6% | 9% |
| Not in education, work or training | 7% | 11% | 11% | 10% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Augustine's Catholic School - a Catholic voluntary academy | Academy | 0.7 miles | 610 | Good 2023 | 72 | Compare |
| Scalby Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 980 | Not inspected | 76 | Compare |
| Scarborough University Technical College | University technical college | 1.3 miles | 275 | Good 2022 | 41 | Compare |
| George Pindar School | Academy | 3.4 miles | 730 | No overall grade 2025 | 5 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Graham School with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 13 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 13% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 9 to 18. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.19 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 188 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well below | -0.21 | Ofsted report card, 0.6 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.20 | DfE progress measure; 188 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | above | +0.06 | results and attendance rising year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | well below | -0.17 | 2024/25; 1,012 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | in line | -0.01 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 188 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | below | -0.02 | 159 pupils |
| What parents say | 5% | below | -0.02 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 46 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Graham School a good school?
The figures are weak. Graham School scores 13 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 36% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 9 to 18, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Graham School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 10 February 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as needs attention, behaviour and attendance as needs attention, leadership as as expected.
How good are Graham School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 28% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 38.3, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished most of a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Graham School have?
893 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,299 places, so it is 69% full.
Is Graham School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 249 places were empty in 2024/25 (21% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Graham School?
Pupils were in school 86.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 41% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Graham School?
70% of the 46 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 67% say their child is happy there. Across England, 77% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Graham School?
The average class had 23.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 12% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Graham School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 90% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Woodlands Drive, Scarborough, YO12 6QW
- Telephone
- 01723 366451
- Website
- gra.hlt.academy
- Headteacher
- Mr Jonathan Newton
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Heartwood Learning Trust (14 schools)
- Local authority
- North Yorkshire
- Ward
- Woodlands
- Constituency
- Scarborough and Whitby
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 March 2019 (new provision)
- URN
- 146769 · LAESTAB 8154007 · UKPRN 10082389
- Formerly
- Graham School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.