North Yorkshire can proudly say it is an above-average county, when it comes to how its young people did in their GCSEs this year.
The Government has now published its preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools over the most recent 2024/25 school year. This time, however, the default measure used to compare schools has switched to Attainment 8 scores - a purely performance-based figure derived from learners’ results in up to eight qualifications. The usual, improvement-based Progress 8 scores couldn’t be calculated this year due to pandemic disruptions this cohort faced back in primary school.
To help local families make sense of the new numbers, we’ve created a league table of the best-performing schools across the City of York and North Yorkshire council areas with the highest performance scores this year. Attainment 8 scores go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, with the national average being 45.9 this year - somewhere between the standard and strong passing grades of 4 to 5 - although both local authorities surpassed this.
North Yorkshire is home to some excellent selective grammar schools which naturally stood out, although plenty of high-achieving comprehensive schools made the list too. But since grades aren’t the only determining factor in what makes a school great, we’ve also made sure each one included on our list had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are getting an overhaul this month, but for now, we’ve only included schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since.
Here were North Yorkshire’s top 15 this year:
1. Ripon Grammar School
At the top of the list is this selective local authority-maintained secondary school in Ripon. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 70.7 – compared to a local average of 46.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
2. Skipton Girls' High School
Next up is this selective girls’ secondary academy in Skipton, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 69.5 – compared to a local average of 46.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. Ermysted's Grammar School
Another selective maintained secondary school, this one is in Skipton, and is for boys. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 67.2 – compared to a local average of 46.5 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Archbishop Holgate's School
Archbishop Holgate's is an Anglican secondary academy in York, and the highest-performing comprehensive school on the list. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 56.5 – compared to a local average of 50.7 and a national average of 45.9. | Google