Co-op Academy Grange Review 2026: A large Bradford secondary focused on rebuilding consistency and trust

Co-op Academy Grange sits on the Southfield Grange campus in Holme Wood, serving a large and diverse intake across Years 7 to 11. It is an 11 to 16 state secondary, with a published capacity of 1,500, and it forms part of Co-op Academies Trust.

This is a school in a recovery phase, and the direction of travel matters. The most recent Ofsted inspection, published on 18 March 2025, graded all four judgement areas as Requires improvement, and confirmed safeguarding is effective.

Leadership has been re-set recently. Sam Moncaster is the headteacher, and Ofsted monitoring correspondence from late 2024 indicates he was newly appointed at that point, alongside wider leadership restructuring.

For families, the practical question is whether you want a large secondary that is tightening routines, strengthening curriculum sequencing, and putting significant effort into attendance, behaviour, and reading, with improvement work still underway.

The tone is purposeful, with a clear emphasis on routines and a “climate for learning” approach that is intended to make lessons calmer and expectations more predictable. The 2025 inspection evidence points to relationships that are improving, pupils who generally behave well in lessons, and staff who know pupils well enough that students report they can get help when they need it.

A key theme is consistency. External review evidence highlights that expectations and lesson structures are becoming more aligned, but that variation remains between classrooms and subjects. That combination often produces a mixed pupil experience: many students feel school is improving, while a smaller cohort can still disrupt social times and unsettle others.

The school’s stated values language leans on Co-op “Ways of Being” and a strong message about respect and belonging. For parents, the useful lens is not the phrasing itself, but where it shows up operationally: clear uniform rules, clear behaviour steps, and visible staffing at pinch points in the day. Policies published by the school show that it is trying to set predictable boundaries and reduce ambiguity for students and families.

Leadership visibility is also part of the reset. The headteacher’s welcome messaging places emphasis on a rapidly improving school, broad provision, and personal development alongside learning. That is consistent with the inspection picture of a school investing in enrichment, student leadership representation, and a more structured personal development offer.

The school’s most recent performance picture (as reflected in the FindMySchool dataset) sits below England average for GCSE outcomes. Co-op Academy Grange is ranked 3,741st in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), and 36th locally in Bradford. This places it below England average overall, and within the lower-performing 40% of secondary schools in England on this measure.

The underlying indicators are also challenging. The school’s average Attainment 8 score is 30.5 and Progress 8 is -1.2, suggesting that outcomes and progress are currently well behind where leaders will want them to be.

The most helpful way to interpret this, alongside the 2025 inspection evidence, is that curriculum planning and routines may be improving faster than exam outcomes can yet reflect. Schools that have had high absence and suspension rates typically need time for curriculum stability to translate into better results, particularly for cohorts who have missed learning over multiple years.

Parents comparing local secondaries should use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to check outcomes alongside other nearby options, and to separate overall attainment from indicators like progress, which can better reflect how well a school is helping pupils move forward from their starting points.

Curriculum work is a central part of the improvement story. The 2025 inspection report describes a curriculum that is now suitably ambitious, with topic order and sequencing more carefully considered than in recent years. The gap is delivery consistency, meaning pupils can have noticeably different experiences depending on teacher and subject.

Where the school appears to be placing effort is in tightening what good practice looks like, and backing that with staff training and monitoring. Ofsted monitoring correspondence from late 2024 references clearer routines, greater consistency in lesson structure, and training tailored to development needs.

Reading is a clear operational priority. The 2025 inspection evidence states that leaders value reading highly and have effective support for pupils who are earlier in their reading journey, helping them catch up to peers. That matters in a secondary context because reading is a gateway to the whole curriculum, particularly in subjects where vocabulary load is heavy.

The school also publishes subject intent documentation, which gives a sense of the curriculum model in some areas, for example a carefully sequenced five-year science curriculum aligned to AQA with a spiral structure designed to revisit and build knowledge over time. Families weighing fit should look for whether that planned structure is consistently experienced across classes, because that is where the inspection evidence says variation still sits.

Co-op Academy Grange is an 11 to 16 school, so the key transition is post-16 progression into sixth form colleges, FE providers, apprenticeships, or training routes. The school publishes general messaging about students moving on to positive opportunities after Year 11, and it references a range of higher education course destinations, but it does not present these as audited percentages on the pages surfaced in this research.

What is more decision-useful, given the current context, is the strength of careers education and provider access. The 2025 inspection report notes a carefully constructed PSHE programme and careers programme, with consideration of safeguarding information, local context, and preparation for life beyond school, plus explicit compliance with provider access expectations.

For families, the practical question to ask is how the school supports students who are deciding between FE, sixth form, and technical pathways, and whether targeted guidance is consistent for students who have had interrupted attendance. The inspection evidence suggests the careers offer is contributing to more positive choices, particularly where attendance is strong enough for students to benefit from the planned curriculum.

Co-op Academy Grange is a state-funded secondary, so there are no tuition fees. Admissions for Year 7 are coordinated through Bradford Local Authority, using the normal secondary admissions timeline for September entry.

For September 2026 entry, Bradford’s published process states that applications open online from 12 September 2025 and close on 31 October 2025. Families who apply online receive notification by email on 2 March 2026, with letters issued after that date for those who did not apply online.

Bradford also publishes an “on-time for allocation purposes” exception window, where late applications due to exceptional circumstances must be received by 28 November 2025. In practice, families should treat 31 October as the real deadline unless the Local Authority confirms your circumstances qualify.

Open events matter because this is a school where seeing routines, corridors between lessons, and behaviour at social times can be especially informative. Bradford’s September 2026 entry booklet lists a Co-op Academy Grange open evening on Thursday 16 October (4pm to 6pm) within the Autumn term open evening schedule, with a note that plans may change and families should check for updates.

If you are trying to understand how realistic a place is from your address, use FindMySchool’s Map Search to check distance and travel time. This school’s dataset entry does not include a “last distance offered” figure, so it is particularly important to validate expectations via official allocation data and the Local Authority’s mapping tools, rather than assumptions from previous years.

Pastoral capacity is a core issue in any school working through serious weaknesses or significant improvement, because academic recovery usually depends on attendance, calm learning conditions, and early intervention for pupils at risk of suspension or persistent absence. The 2025 inspection report describes bespoke pastoral support aimed at helping pupils take responsibility and respect others, and it notes that most pupils feel safe and supported.

The same inspection evidence is frank that behaviour at social times can still be disrupted by a smaller group, and that suspensions remain high though declining. That matters for families because suspension is not just a consequence, it is lost curriculum time, and it can widen gaps quickly for pupils who are already behind.

The school’s published mental health policy shows a structured approach with named roles, including a designated mental health lead, wellbeing leadership, peer mediation, and referral routes through internal systems. Families who value clarity about who does what, and how concerns move from “noticed” to “acted on,” may find this kind of role-based model reassuring, provided it is consistently applied.

Attendance is treated as a major lever. The school’s published attendance guidance makes clear that term-time holidays are typically not authorised and may lead to a penalty from the council, aligning with wider Local Authority expectations. For parents, the key practical indicator is whether attendance work is supportive as well as firm, especially for families dealing with complex barriers.

Extracurricular breadth is a strength in the published picture, and it is relevant because enrichment can be a real engagement driver in large secondaries, particularly where attendance has been an issue. The school lists a wide menu of activity, including Further Maths, Science Club, Computing Club, Spanish Club, Arabic Club, Linguistics Club, Gardening Club, and board games, alongside sports such as trampolining and judo.

The value here is not the generic existence of clubs, it is what they can do for belonging and routine. A student who is in STEM Club every Thursday at 3pm, for example, has an additional anchor point in the week, a specific teacher relationship, and a reason to stay after school for structured learning beyond lessons.

Literacy enrichment is also visible. The school’s Opus Book Club activity shows a reading-for-pleasure strand that extends beyond the library as a space and into structured programmes and events, including reviewing shortlisted titles and engaging with authors. For pupils who have had uneven reading confidence, this kind of social reading culture can make reading feel less like a test and more like identity.

Food and start-of-day routines are part of the wider provision. Breakfast Club is published as free to attend, offering breakfast items and games such as Uno, Guess Who, and Connect 4. That can matter for punctuality and readiness to learn, and for some families it reduces morning pressure.

The academy day is clearly structured. Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am, the site is open for students from 8.10am, form time begins at 8.30am, and the main day runs through five periods ending at 3.15pm. Timings vary slightly across KS3 and KS4 mid-morning structure, but the finish time aligns at 3.15pm.

For travel planning, the most reliable approach is to model the commute at the times that matter, not just distance. In a large school, punctuality pressure usually sits around arrival window, movement to form time, and late buses. Families should check local bus routes and timings against the 8.10am to 8.30am arrival window and the 3.15pm finish.

• Inspection context and improvement stage. The latest inspection (February 2025, published March 2025) graded all judgement areas as Requires improvement. The school is improving, but consistency and outcomes are still work in progress.

• Behaviour and attendance remain pivotal. Evidence points to calmer lessons and better attendance work, but disruption at social times and a still-high suspension rate are noted. Families should ask how behaviour support is personalised for pupils who struggle with routines.

• Outcomes are currently below England average. The FindMySchool GCSE ranking places the school below England average, and the Progress 8 measure is significantly negative. If academic outcomes are your primary driver, compare carefully with local alternatives.

• Large-school experience. With around 1,450 pupils on roll noted in the 2025 inspection report, the environment is big. That can suit students who want variety and extensive activities, but it can feel overwhelming for those who need a smaller setting.

Co-op Academy Grange is a large Bradford secondary in a rebuilding phase, with clear evidence of tightening routines, a more coherent curriculum model, and a stronger personal development and careers framework than in the recent past. Safeguarding is confirmed as effective, and students report improved support and relationships.

Best suited to families who want a structured school day, a wide extracurricular menu, and a school that is actively working to improve consistency, and who are prepared to engage closely with attendance, behaviour expectations, and home-school communication. The main trade-off is that GCSE outcomes, as reflected are currently below England average, so families prioritising exam performance above all else should benchmark carefully against nearby schools.