Beckfoot Oakbank Review 2026: Large 11 to 18 comprehensive on an improvement journey

Beckfoot Oakbank is a large, mixed 11 to 18 secondary with sixth form places, serving Keighley and the surrounding villages. The school sits within the Beckfoot Trust, with trust-wide leadership involvement and a clear improvement narrative over the last two years.

The headline context is important. The most recent full inspection (January 2025) judged key areas as mixed, with sixth form stronger than the main school. A subsequent monitoring visit (September 2025) focused on the pace and impact of improvement rather than issuing new grades.

For families, the decision tends to hinge on fit and trajectory. If you want a big school with a wide curriculum and structured routines, and you are comfortable with a setting still embedding behavioural consistency, it can be a practical local option, particularly for students motivated by post-16 pathways.

The school positions itself as a comprehensive, community-facing secondary with a strong emphasis on routines and consistent classroom practice. A distinctive thread in the school’s narrative is standardisation, a common feature of schools tightening teaching consistency and behaviour expectations at scale. The “Oakbank Way” and its “active ingredients” model is explicitly referenced in formal evaluation, presenting a consistent lesson structure intended to reduce variability across subjects and teachers.

Leadership is layered. The school website identifies Mr Chris Ray as Headteacher, and also lists Mr Andrew Burton as Executive Headteacher, reflecting a trust-supported structure rather than a standalone headship model. For parents, that typically means improvement work is driven through a wider team, with policies and systems aligned to the trust.

Behaviour and culture are the most sensitive areas to weigh. The evidence base paints a picture of behaviour that has been uneven, especially outside classrooms and during unstructured times, with work underway to make expectations consistent throughout the building. A monitoring visit later in 2025 was framed by the school as reporting progress, particularly around calmness and routines, but it did not replace the earlier graded judgements.

Outcomes point to performance that is currently below England average on GCSE measures, with challenges around progress. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 36, and the Progress 8 score is -0.62, indicating that, on average, pupils are achieving less progress than similar pupils nationally. The EBacc entry and success indicators are also low which usually suggests a cohort not widely entered for the full academic suite or facing significant barriers to achieving it.

Ranked 3,511th in England and 2nd in Keighley for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), performance sits below England average, within the bottom 40% of schools in England.

Post-16 performance is also below England average overall, with a distribution weighted more towards B grades than A or A*. A-level grades show 37.63% at A* to B, with A* at 4.3% and A at 2.15%.

Ranked 1,904th in England and 2nd in Keighley for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), performance also sits below England average, within the bottom 40% of sixth forms in England.

A practical way to read these figures is that the school’s improvement work needs to translate into stronger attainment and progress at GCSE, while sixth form provision appears to be the relative bright spot when viewed through inspection evidence and student experience narratives.

Parents comparing local options can use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to view GCSE and A-level indicators side-by-side for nearby schools, which is often more useful than reading raw numbers in isolation.

The most persuasive teaching story here is the push for consistency. The school’s structured lesson approach aims to make expectations predictable for pupils and reduce gaps between departments. In contexts where behaviour and attendance have been barriers to learning, that sort of shared routine can matter because it reduces “dead time” in lessons and helps pupils know what success looks like in every classroom.

That said, the quality picture is not uniform. Formal evaluation in early 2025 graded quality of education as Requires improvement, implying that curriculum ambition and classroom delivery were improving but not yet consistently effective across year groups and subjects. The same evidence base flags that misconceptions were not always addressed and that pupils with gaps in knowledge, often linked to missed learning, were not always helped to catch up quickly enough.

In sixth form, the tone is different. Provision was graded Good, with students described as benefiting from a well-designed curriculum and positive relationships with staff, which helps explain why families sometimes view Oakbank as a stronger option for post-16 than for lower school entry.

The destination data available for this school refers to the 2023/24 leaver cohort. In that cohort of 80 students, 53% progressed to university, 6% started apprenticeships, 28% moved into employment, and 3% went into further education. These figures suggest a sixth form that supports multiple pathways rather than a single dominant route.

Oxbridge application and acceptance figures are not available and the school website does not publish a quantified Russell Group or Oxbridge pipeline. In practical terms, families interested in highly competitive university routes should ask directly about recent application support, subject-specific outcomes, and the type of guidance offered for medicine, dentistry, and competitive STEM degrees.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Bradford Local Authority, using the common application form process, with the national closing date shown for the September 2026 intake as 31 October 2025. Offers for secondary places in Bradford are issued on 02 March 2026, with subsequent deadlines for acceptance, waiting lists, and appeals set out in the local authority admissions guide.

The school’s published admissions arrangements indicate a planned admission number of up to 250 for Year 7 entry in September 2026. For families applying in future years, the pattern is predictable: open evenings typically run in September, applications close at the end of October, and offers follow the national timetable in early March.

Sixth form admissions are described as centred on an open evening (often in November, and sometimes early December), with an application deadline two weeks later and interviews typically in January, followed by a taster day in February.

Safeguarding is a critical threshold for any school choice. The most recent full inspection states that safeguarding arrangements are effective. That provides a baseline assurance on systems and culture, even while other areas require improvement.

The wider wellbeing picture is closely tied to behaviour and attendance. The evidence base highlights that pupils’ experiences can vary depending on the success of behaviour routines at social times and on corridors, and that attendance improvement is a continuing priority. For families, that means it is worth probing how the school is currently managing transitions between lessons, supervision at breaks, and the support offered to pupils returning from suspension.

A large school should be able to offer breadth, and Oakbank’s published enrichment list is wide enough to cater to different interests. The clearest sign of intent is the effort to provide varied, named activities beyond sport, including Dungeons and Dragons Club, Samba Band, Choir, Orchestra, Guitar Group, and Lego Club, alongside the expected team sports and creative options.

Subject-specific enrichment also appears more detailed than many schools publish. English references a debate club with competition opportunities and a national writing programme, and science references a Lego robotics club and STEM-focused activities. The implication for students is straightforward: those who engage tend to find a positive peer group and adult relationships that sit outside the pressure points of day-to-day behaviour management.

For families weighing culture, it is sensible to ask not just what clubs exist, but how many run consistently each week, how attendance is encouraged, and whether transport arrangements make after-school participation realistic for your child.

The school publishes opening hours of 8.20am to 2.50pm. For travel, the school references a dedicated bus service (B58), and also notes that public bus services can be used without the same school-bus card process.

As a state school, there are no tuition fees. Families should still budget for the typical costs associated with secondary education, such as uniform, equipment, optional trips, and any optional music tuition where offered.

• Behaviour consistency remains central. The most recent full inspection graded behaviour and attitudes as Inadequate, with issues most visible during social times and corridors. Families should ask what has changed since September 2025 and how consistency is sustained across staff teams.

• Outcomes and progress need to improve. The dataset indicates below-average GCSE attainment and progress. If your child needs a very stable learning environment to thrive, ask about the practical classroom routines, cover arrangements, and how the school is closing knowledge gaps.

• Sixth form may feel different from lower school. Sixth-form provision was graded Good, and destinations data indicates a mix of university, apprenticeships, and employment. This can be a positive route for students who are ready to reset at 16, but it is worth checking subject availability and entry requirements carefully.

• Timing matters for admissions. For September 2026 Year 7 entry, the application deadline (31 October 2025) is already past as of January 2026, with offers issued in March 2026. Late movers should look at in-year admissions routes through Bradford.

Beckfoot Oakbank is a large, local comprehensive with a clear improvement agenda and a sixth form that appears stronger than the lower school experience. Best suited to families who want a broad curriculum and enrichment offer in a big-school setting, and who are comfortable asking detailed questions about behaviour systems and attendance support. Entry is straightforward through Bradford’s coordinated process, the harder work is judging whether the school’s recent progress matches what your child needs day to day.