Ilkley Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school The headteacher provides strong, clear and decisive leadership. She has successfully driven a robust and highly effective improvement strategy.

Senior leaders have a firm grasp of how well the school is achieving. Their self-evaluation is accurate, precise and sharply focused on making what is already excellent even better. Leaders at all levels are successfully ensuring that pupils attain highly and make excellent progress.

The curriculum is a real strength of the school and demonstrates leaders' strong moral compass. It combines academic excellence with a strong focus on pupils becoming effective and well-rounded individuals. Go...vernors provide excellent strategic leadership.

They remain focused on the big picture and avoid getting bogged down in the day-to-day running of the school. Leaders and managers have developed highly effective relationships with other professionals and agencies, including alternative providers, to ensure that the most vulnerable pupils are safe and cared for, attend regularly and achieve well. Teachers' high expectations are at the heart of teaching in the school.

Pupils' progress has been extremely strong, including for the most able and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers go the 'extra mile' to make sure that pupils achieve, feel cared for and thrive within a supportive and productive learning environment. Pupils' behaviour in and around the school is exemplary.

They conduct themselves well, are smartly dressed and ready to learn. Sixth-form students make excellent progress. Through high-quality support and guidance, the overwhelming majority of students go on to further training or study, often at the most prestigious universities.

The use of additional funding is making a real and significant difference to a range of different pupils, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged. On rare occasions, teachers' expectations are not high enough. The attendance of some sixth-form students is not high enough.

Information about this school

The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish. Ilkley Grammar School is a larger than average secondary school.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is below the national average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds or who speak English as an additional language is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is below the national average. The school uses a number of alternative providers for a small number of pupils. These registered providers are Bradford Central Pupil Referral Unit, Pipeline, Keighley College and Tracks.