Highfield School
Highfield School is a foundation special school in Ossett for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 210 pupils and every place is taken. About 55 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Gawthorpe Lane, Ossett, WF5 9BS01924 264240highfield-school.co.ukMrs Rebecca Thompson headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 23 November 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
24 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 | Wakefield | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 24 | 22 | 33 | 25 | 26 | 26 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | 0.2 | – | 0.4 | 0.3 | 45.3 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | -1.68 | – | -1.71 | -1.64 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | 45% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | 66% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | 0.02 | – | 0.03 | 0.00 | 3.99 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 0% | 35% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | 0.0 | – | 0.0 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | 0.3 | – | 0.7 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | – | 0.2 | – | 0.4 | 0.1 | – | – |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 Wakefield council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, severe learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Wakefield with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (76), Severe learning difficulty (65), language and communications needs (36), Specific learning difficulty (16), Moderate learning difficulty (5), emotional and mental health (4).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 210 | 208 | 203 | 191 | 190 | 187 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 52% | 50% | 48% | 40% | 40% | 42% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 5% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 10.2% | 10.3% | 10.0% | 8.9% | 5.4% | 7.8% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 8.9% | 9.3% | 8.9% | 6.3% | 4.0% | 5.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 2.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 29.2% | 26.1% | 25.2% | 27.3% | 13.6% | 24.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.4 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 8.6 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 33 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 97% | 100% | 100% | 94% |
| Education | 97% | 100% | 100% | 94% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 3% | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gawthorpe Community Academy | Academy | 660 m | 231 | Good 2022 | 50 | Compare |
| Orchard Primary Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 363 | Good 2022 | 8 | Compare |
| Shaw Cross Infant and Nursery School | Council | 1.0 miles | 223 | Report card 2026 | 4 | Compare |
| Ossett Holy Trinity CofE VA Primary School | Church of England | 1.0 miles | 341 | No overall grade 2024 | 30 | Compare |
| Ossett Flushdyke Junior and Infant School | Foundation | 1.2 miles | 111 | Good 2022 | 63 | Compare |
| Bywell Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School | Church of England | 1.2 miles | 384 | Good 2024 | 67 | Compare |
| Towngate Primary Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 311 | Not inspected | 25 | Compare |
| Hanging Heaton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School | Church of England | 1.2 miles | 133 | Good 2022 | 82 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Highfield School a good school?
Highfield School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in November 2023.
What is Highfield School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Highfield School good at its last full inspection on 23 November 2023.
How many pupils does Highfield School have?
210 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 210 places, so it is 100% full.
What is attendance like at Highfield School?
Pupils were in school 89.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 29% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Highfield School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, severe learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Highfield School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Gawthorpe Lane, Ossett, WF5 9BS
- Telephone
- 01924 264240
- Website
- www.highfield-school.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rebecca Thompson
- Type of school
- Foundation special school (Foundation special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- Education Ossett - Community Trust (3 schools)
- Local authority
- Wakefield
- Ward
- Ossett
- Constituency
- Ossett and Denby Dale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 108311 · LAESTAB 3847002 · UKPRN 10018032
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 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.