The six-week school holidays are already in full swing across England, and before parents know it, summer’s primary school leavers will be heading off to secondary school.
Yorkshire and the wider Humber region are home to many top-notch, high-performing secondary and high schools where pupils excel, from York to Sheffield, and Hull to Bradford. But how do they stack up when compared side-by-side?
We’ve created a league table of the county’s schools. We started by picking out only state-funded schools rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted - meaning the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding have all been found to be excellent.
On top of that, we’ve narrowed it down based on ‘Progress 8’ ratings. These are based on GCSE results and other student achievements, and help determine how quickly students at any particular school are learning and progressing compared to a nationwide average. Any score above 0 is positive, but we’ve selected only those in the highest available band.
Here were the 21 highest scorers - Yorkshire’s very own ‘super schools’.

1. Mercia School
Mercia is a non-selective, mixed secondary school in Sheffield. It is known for having incredibly high expectations and rules for pupil behaviour. It has a truly exceptional Progress 8 score of 2.24, putting it in the ‘well above average’ band - the highest rank available. | Google

2. The Ruth Gorse Academy
The Ruth Gorse academy is a secondary school in Leeds, managed by the Gorse Academies Trust. It has an incredible Progress 8 score of 0.92, also ‘well above average’. | Google

3. The Morley Academy
The Morley Academy is a secondary school in Morley, just south of Leeds, another run by the Gorse Academies Trust. It has a fantastic Progress 8 score of 0.83, scoring it a spot in the ‘well above average’ band. | Google

4. Moor End Academy
Moor End is a secondary school in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. It has a great Progress 8 score of 0.78, making it ‘well above average’. | Google