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Secondary · WF8 · Pontefract

Ark Carleton High School

Green Lane, Carleton, Pontefract, WF8 3NW

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ARK SCHOOLS is the academy trust. Admissions rules still sit with the school and your local council.

OfstedNo overall grade

At a glance

Key published figures for this school.

OfstedNo overall grade
Attendance (2024/25)93%
Attainment (2024/25)Attainment 8: 47.5
Roll vs capacityClose to published capacity
Pupils1026

Ofsted inspection

Latest outcome

No overall grade

New inspection format: no single overall grade.

Improved significantly

Report published 15 Dec 2024.

Inspection history

  • Latest ungradedImproved significantly
  • Previous gradedInadequate

This page shows previous graded and latest ungraded outcomes when Ofsted publishes them in the national file. Full history stays on the Ofsted report.

View on Ofsted

School figures

Coloured bars compare this school with the average for other schools in WF8. Where we have them, council (Wakefield) and England figures appear under FSM, SEN and attendance. FSM, SEN and EAL are context, not quality scores. For attendance, higher is usually better.

Pupils on roll
1026
Free school meals
30.8%
7.5% above district average (23.3%)

Also: Wakefield 28.5% · England 25.8%

SEN
16.5%
6.7% below district average (23.2%)

Also: Wakefield 17.7% · England 16.5%

EAL
2.5%
3.5% below district average (6%)
Attendance
93% Autumn and spring 2024/25
0.5% above district average (92.5%)

Also: Wakefield 90.8% · England 91.9%

Each metric uses its own colour so you can tell the rows apart. The lighter bar is the WF8 average; the darker bar is this school.

Compared with England

Persistent absence is 2024/25. Headline GCSE measures are 2024/25. Progress 8 is from 2023/24, the latest year published for this school. There is no Progress 8 for 2024/25 or 2025/26, because those pupils did not sit Key Stage 2 tests during the pandemic. England is the state-funded average from the same tables. Progress 8 of 0 is typical.

Persistent absence2024/25

18%

3.9% below England (21.9%)

Progress 82023/24

+0.12

0.12 above England (0.00)

Attainment 82024/25

47.5

1.4 above England (46.1)

Grade 5+ English & maths2024/25

45.9%

0.5% above England (45.4%)

Grade 4+ English & maths2024/25

67.9%

3.1% above England (64.8%)

Entered for EBacc2024/25

44.9%

4.4% above England (40.5%)

EBacc average point score2024/25

4.21

0.1 above England (4.09)

Trends

Attendance

Autumn and spring 2024/25 from DfE pupil absence data (where published for this URN). The headline above uses the same period.

  • 97%
    2020/21
  • 92.3%
    2021/22
  • 93.5%
    2022/23
  • 92.4%
    2023/24
  • 93%
    2024/25

Admissions

Applications and offers (September 2026 entry)

For September 2026 entry, 251 families put this school first. 199 of them were offered a place here.

Named as first preference
251
First-preference offers
199
First preferences offered a place
79.3%
Total offers
199
Named on any preference
470

This is historic demand from one admissions round. It is not a guarantee of a place, and it does not show a catchment area. Admission rules and priorities differ by school.

SourceDfE applications and offers, September 2026 entryPublished 18th of June 2026.

How full the building is

Roll versus published capacity
Close to published capacity
Published capacity (GIAS)
1050
Pupils on roll
1026

Pupils on roll compared with the capacity published in GIAS. This is about building size, not applications or offers, and it is not a guarantee of a place.

Applications and offers come from DfE. Last distance offered and catchment areas are not published nationally. Your council admissions booklet has those details.

Check your council admissions booklet via the Wakefield page.

SEN support

SEN %
16.5%
On-site provision
Resourced provision · ASD

A higher SEN percentage can mean experience with support needs, or more demand on staff. Ask the SENCO what is available day to day.

Schools near Ark Carleton High School

Distances are in a straight line from this school. They are not catchment areas.

Other nearby schools

All schools in WF8 · Schools in Wakefield

Sources and freshness

  • School year for most DfE figures: 2024/25.
  • Pipeline last checked: Oct 2026.
  • Council and England attendance / FSM tables: 2024/25.
  • School figures from DfE / GIAS / Ofsted where published. District averages use other schools in this postcode district. Council and England figures use DfE local authority and national tables for the matching phase.
  • We do not publish school photos. The banner shows initials from the school name.
  • Methodology · Data updates