Lighthouse School Leeds
Lighthouse School Leeds is a special free school in Leeds for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 102 pupils, 22 more than it has places for. About 17 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
Arthington House, Hospital Lane, Cookridge, Leeds, LS16 6QB0113 457 0605lighthouseschool.co.ukMrs Emma Sullivan executive principalAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 26 April 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
9 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 | Leeds | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 10.9 | 7.0 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 45.8 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -2.21 | -2.28 | -2.45 | -1.99 | -2.38 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 11% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 46% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 11% | 14% | 0% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 65% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.54 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 0.17 | 0.06 | 0.31 | 4.12 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | 5.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | 8.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | – | – | – |
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 Leeds 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.
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 Leeds with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (102).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 102 | 90 | 88 | 81 | 82 | 83 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 25% | 23% | 27% | 30% | 28% | 28% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 2% |
| 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 82.4% 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 | 17.6% | 16.9% | 8.2% | 12.4% | 8.5% | 10.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 14.9% | 12.9% | 7.3% | 9.8% | 4.9% | 9.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.7% | 4.0% | 0.9% | 2.6% | 3.6% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 38.6% | 46.3% | 18.6% | 33.3% | 17.2% | 20.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 11 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 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Education | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
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 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iveson Primary School | Foundation | 560 m | 379 | Not inspected | 61 | Compare |
| Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy | Academy | 600 m | 204 | Good 2023 | 79 | Compare |
| Ireland Wood Primary School | Foundation | 960 m | 386 | Good 2022 | 50 | Compare |
| Cookridge Primary School | Foundation | 0.7 miles | 314 | Good 2023 | 82 | Compare |
| Ralph Thoresby School | Foundation | 0.8 miles | 987 | Good 2023 | 19 | Compare |
| Abbey Grange Church of England Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 1,576 | Report card 2026 | 88 | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Horsforth | Academy | 0.8 miles | 210 | Outstanding 2024 | 92 | Compare |
| Broadgate Primary School | Council | 0.9 miles | 421 | Good 2024 | 56 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Lighthouse School Leeds a good school?
Lighthouse School Leeds doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in April 2023.
What is Lighthouse School Leeds's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Lighthouse School Leeds good at its last full inspection on 26 April 2023.
How good are Lighthouse School Leeds's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 11% 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 10.9, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished well over a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Lighthouse School Leeds have?
102 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 80 places, so it is 128% full.
What is attendance like at Lighthouse School Leeds?
Pupils were in school 82.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 39% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Lighthouse School Leeds have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Lighthouse School Leeds 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
- Arthington House, Hospital Lane, Cookridge, Leeds, LS16 6QB
- Telephone
- 0113 457 0605
- Website
- www.lighthouseschool.co.uk
- Executive Principal
- Mrs Emma Sullivan
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Lighthouse Education Trust (1 schools)
- Local authority
- Leeds
- Ward
- Weetwood
- Constituency
- Leeds Central and Headingley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 3 September 2012 (new provision)
- URN
- 138380 · LAESTAB 3837004 · UKPRN 10038236
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, 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.