Contested schools in Wakefield

These are the Wakefield schools that turned first-choice families away in at least one of the last three years — either because more families named them first than they had places, or because they refused families who named them first anyway. Figures shown are for 2026/27. Demand is not a forecast: an oversubscribed school turns more families away, which is not the same as their appeals succeeding more often.

Appeal success rates for Wakefield

Secondary schools (8)

Each has its own page with a 12-year demand history.

Contested secondary schools in Wakefield, 2026/27
School	Places	First choices	Per place
Trinity Academy Cathedral	196	311	1.59
St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy	137	201	1.47
Carleton High School	199	251	1.26
Horbury Academy	198	234	1.18
Castleford Academy	280	291	1.04
Outwood Academy Freeston	175	170	0.97
Minsthorpe Community College	279	269	0.96
The King's School	207	188	0.91

Primary schools (46)

Primary schools are listed here as figures rather than pages. Most refusals at the Reception intake are infant class size cases, where a panel can only act on three narrow grounds and fewer than one in ten appeals succeeds — so the honest thing to publish is the data, not a page inviting an appeal.

Contested primary schools in Wakefield, 2026/27
School	Places	First choices	Per place
Jerry Clay Academy	27	58	2.15
Ackton Pastures Primary Academy	43	73	1.70
West Bretton Junior and Infant School	14	21	1.50
Sandal Magna Community Academy	30	44	1.47
Stanley Grove Primary and Nursery Academy	30	40	1.33
Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School	44	57	1.30
Outwood Primary Academy Greenhill	29	37	1.28
Grove Lea Primary School	30	38	1.27
Orchard Head Junior and Infant and Nursery School	45	55	1.22
Darrington Church of England Primary School	15	18	—
Carleton Park Junior and Infant School	30	34	1.13
Normanton Common Primary Academy	45	50	1.11
Featherstone All Saints CofE Academy	30	33	1.10
Horbury Primary Academy	60	66	1.10
Wakefield St Marys Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School	30	33	1.10
Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate	28	30	1.07
Shay Lane Primary (J and I) School	30	32	1.07
South Elmsall Carlton Junior and Infant School	60	64	1.07
Wakefield Pinders Primary (JIN) School	45	47	1.04
Fitzwilliam Primary School	30	31	1.03
Northfield Primary School	45	46	1.02
Smawthorne Henry Moore Academy	57	58	1.02
Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School	22	22	1
De Lacy Primary School	44	44	1
England Lane Academy	21	21	1
Gawthorpe Community Academy	30	30	1
Ossett Flushdyke Junior and Infant School	11	11	—
St Botolphs CE Academy	30	30	1
Upton Primary School	48	48	1
Wakefield St Johns Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior and Infant School	29	29	1
Walton Primary Academy	45	45	1
Fairburn View Primary School, Castleford	58	57	0.98
St Giles C of E Academy	42	41	0.98
St Michael's CofE Academy	57	56	0.98
Wakefield Flanshaw Junior and Infant School	44	43	0.98
Ackworth Howard Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School	29	28	0.97
Alverthorpe St Paul's CofE (VA) School 3-11yrs	29	28	0.97
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford	25	24	0.96
Glasshoughton Infant Academy	60	57	0.95
Holy Family and St Michael's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy	21	20	0.95
Willow Green Academy	27	25	0.93
Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane	59	54	0.92
St Austin's Catholic Primary School	40	36	0.90
Middlestown Primary Academy	25	22	0.88
Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant Academy	15	13	—
Newton Hill Community School	44	38	0.86

Department for Education, Primary and secondary school applications and offers, school-level file, 2026/27. Appeal outcomes are not published for individual schools — how we source and calculate the figures.