St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, Dewsbury Review 2026: A Catholic secondary on a clear improvement path

The published performance picture is challenging at GCSE, and mixed at sixth form.

At GCSE, St John Fisher is ranked 3,674th in England for outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), placing it below England average overall. Within the Dewsbury local area, it ranks 6th. An average Attainment 8 score of 31.4 and a Progress 8 score of -0.99 indicate that, on average, students’ outcomes and progress have been weaker than peers nationally. EBacc indicators are also low including an average EBacc APS of 2.79 and 6.4% achieving grades 5+ in the EBacc measure.

At A-level, the profile is also below England average overall, but notably strong within its immediate local area. The school ranks 2,370th in England for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data) and ranks 1st locally in Dewsbury. A-level grades show 24% at A* to B, compared with an England average of 47.2% for A* to B. The A* and A proportions are also low (1.33% A*, 2.67% A), compared with an England average of 23.6% for A* or A.

What should parents take from this? The environment and systems have improved faster than outcomes. If your child is already thriving academically and needs a high-ceiling results profile across the board, this is a key consideration. If your child needs stability, clear expectations, and strong pastoral structures, and you are comfortable with a school in an improvement phase, the overall offer may still be compelling.

Parents comparing local options can use FindMySchool’s Local Hub and Comparison Tool to view GCSE and sixth form measures side by side, rather than relying on reputation alone.

St John Fisher’s current teaching and learning story is best understood as “inconsistent, improving”. The school has been redeveloping parts of the curriculum and standardising classroom routines designed to help students retain and connect knowledge, including regular “daily reviews” in lessons. The practical implication is that students are more likely to experience structured lessons with deliberate recap, but with variation between subjects and classes.

Sixth form is described as more consistent than key stage 4, and the published sixth form curriculum information supports the idea of breadth across both academic and applied routes. The course catalogue includes A-level subjects such as Art and Design and Biology, alongside applied and vocational options such as a BTEC National Extended Certificate in Applied Science and an OCR Cambridge Technical (CTEC) pathway in Business Studies.

Entry requirements are course dependent, and the sixth form pages indicate GCSE thresholds in the “five grade 4s, with stronger grades in key subjects” range for at least some routes, which signals an expectation of readiness rather than open access. For students who benefit from smaller cohorts and closer monitoring, the sixth form’s positioning as a tighter community may be a practical advantage, especially if the alternative is a very large general further education environment.

Where Students Go Next

St John Fisher does not publish a consistent set of headline destination statistics on its own site in a way that can be used as a numeric benchmark here, so the best available indicator is the official leavers destinations results.

For the 2023/24 leavers cohort (cohort size 63), 24% progressed to university, 13% to apprenticeships, 25% into employment, and 5% into further education. These figures are a reminder that post 16 and post 18 pathways here are varied, with meaningful flows into work and apprenticeships alongside university routes.

From a family perspective, the key is fit. If your child is aiming for a highly academic university pipeline, you will want to probe sixth form subject strength and support for competitive applications. If your child is weighing apprenticeships, employment, or mixed routes, the school’s emphasis on careers guidance, work experience, and structured personal development is likely to be relevant, and it is explicitly referenced in external reporting.

St John Fisher is a state funded school with no tuition fees. Admission is shaped primarily by two forces: Catholic designation and demand.

For Year 7 entry for September 2026, the published admissions number is 198 places. The admissions policy is explicit that, where applications exceed places, priority is given to Catholic children under defined criteria, followed by other groups including looked after children, siblings, and distance tie breaks. It names a set of Catholic feeder primary defined areas and schools that receive priority within the Catholic categories, which is important for families planning earlier.

Process matters as much as criteria. Applications are made through the local authority coordinated route, and families applying under Catholic criteria must also complete a supplementary information form by the stated deadline. For Kirklees residents applying for September 2026, the local authority application window runs from 01 September 2025 to 31 October 2025, with offers released on 02 March 2026. The school’s own policy also references 31 October 2025 as the closing date and notes offers as 01 March 2026 or the next working day, which in practice aligns with the local authority offer day mechanism.

Demand indicators in the available results show the school as oversubscribed overall, with 289 applications and 184 offers in the most recent cycle recorded, and 1.57. applications per place

For families thinking strategically, FindMySchool’s Map Search is useful for understanding real world distance, but for this school the more important step is aligning your application evidence with the published faith and feeder criteria.

Pastoral and wellbeing provision is one of St John Fisher’s stronger signals, particularly through its Catholic life and service culture. The charity programme is structured by year group, with named partner charities including Catholic Care (Year 7), SVP (Year 8), Aid to the Church in Need (Year 9), a Lourdes pilgrimage link (Year 10), Batley Food Bank (Year 11), and Forever Angels in sixth form. That breadth matters because it gives students concrete ways to practise service, rather than leaving it as a slogan.

The Catholic Schools Inspectorate report from 11 to 12 December 2025 grades Catholic life and mission as 1, and highlights strong pastoral emphasis and improved behaviour culture, while identifying next steps around embedding virtues into the wider curriculum and strengthening students’ clarity about how to improve their learning. For Catholic families, this is a useful complement to Ofsted’s judgement set, because it focuses on mission, worship, and religious education as lived experience.

At a practical level, the school also uses systems designed to reduce daily friction for students and parents. Catering is cashless, with biometric identification as the default and an on system daily spend limit of £6.50 that can be adjusted by request. That is not just a convenience feature; it can help families manage budgeting and reduce the social complications that sometimes come with cash handling.

Extracurricular life is best described as purposeful and improving, with some offerings that signal a broader rebalancing of school culture.

Clubs named in official reporting include table tennis, gardening, politics, and Latin, alongside student leadership opportunities such as diversity committees that plan celebrations of different religions and festivals. For parents, the practical implication is that enrichment is being used as part of culture building, giving students structured communities and responsibilities that reinforce expectations.

Facilities also support both sport and creative activity. The school promotes a floodlit 3G AstroTurf pitch that can be booked in sections for football and touch rugby, and a sports hall marked for multiple sports, including badminton court sizing and markings for basketball, volleyball, netball, and indoor football. The on site gym is described as newly renovated with wall mirrors, designed for activities such as dance and gymnastics, and also used for fitness sessions and table tennis.

The most interesting aspect is how these pieces fit together. A school does not change simply by tightening sanctions; it changes when students have places to belong, staff have consistent routines to lean on, and the wider programme provides positive identity. Here, sport, creative spaces, service, and leadership roles appear to be part of that wider architecture.

The published school day timing (September 2025) runs from a Personal Development period starting at 8:40am through to the end of Lesson 3 at 3:10pm. Families should check term by term variations, but this gives a reliable baseline for commuting and after school commitments.

Transport is unusually detailed on the school’s own site. There are seven dedicated school bus routes listed, and the school describes working with West Yorkshire Combined Authority around routes and expectations, with specific guidance on behaviour and travel cards for discounted fares. If your child is moving into Year 7 from a primary where independent travel was limited, this is a meaningful transition support detail.

Wraparound care is not typically a feature of secondary schools, and the school does not present a single consolidated breakfast and after school childcare offer in the way primaries often do. What is clearly present is an after school and lunchtime club culture plus structured sixth form pathways; families needing supervised care earlier than the published start time should confirm current arrangements directly with the school.

• Academic outcomes are the main gap. GCSE and A-level measures sit below England average overall. For students aiming for high tariff university routes, it is sensible to ask detailed questions about subject specific strength, teaching consistency, and sixth form support.

• Catholic admissions criteria are central. Priority is given to Catholic children under defined oversubscription categories, and a supplementary information form is part of applying under those categories. This suits committed Catholic families; others should read the criteria carefully and be realistic about chances.

• Improvement work is real, but still in flight. Behaviour and safety have improved, and safeguarding is confirmed effective, but the curriculum and outcomes work has further to go. Families should look for evidence of momentum continuing through key stage 4.

• Travel can be a deciding factor. Dedicated bus routes exist, but they bring earlier starts, longer days, and a reliance on transport reliability. It is worth stress testing the commute before committing.

St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy is best understood as a local Catholic secondary with strengthened routines, clearer culture, and credible improvement momentum, but with outcomes that still lag behind its ambitions. It suits families who value a strongly articulated Catholic identity, structured pastoral care, and a school that has stabilised behaviour and safety while continuing to raise academic consistency. The challenge is not whether the school is improving, but whether its current results profile aligns with your child’s goals over the next two to five years.