Bishop Young Church of England Academy Review 2026: A faith-centred secondary with structured routines and broad pathways after Year 11

A school can be defined by its routines as much as its results. Here, the day is tightly framed: an early start, five teaching periods, a clear end time, and a built-in “Reflection for the Day” that signals the importance of character alongside curriculum. Students also have an expectation to take part in at least one club each week, which helps normalise enrichment as part of school life rather than an optional add-on.

This is a Church of England academy serving Seacroft and wider East Leeds, with places offered through a mixture of faith-based and community criteria, including a defined priority admission area. It sits within Abbey Multi Academy Trust’s family of schools and academies, with leadership spanning both school-level roles and trust-level oversight.

The latest Ofsted inspection (19 and 20 March 2024, report published 16 May 2024) judged the school Good overall and Good in each key judgement area.

The school’s public-facing language places inclusion and belonging at the centre of its identity. Its Christian vision frames the community as a “safe and welcoming family”, and the associated ethos statement places a strong emphasis on positive discipline, responsibility, and living well together. This matters for day-to-day experience because it implies a culture where behaviour expectations are explicit and regularly reinforced, rather than left to individual classroom variation.

A distinctive strand is the way character is formalised. Students are taught through a bespoke character education programme referred to as the BISHOP Character, and the school links character traits to Christian values and affirmations. The practical implication is that pastoral language is likely to be consistent across year groups, with shared terminology used in assemblies, tutor time, and behaviour systems. For some students, this clarity is grounding. For others, it can feel highly structured, especially if they are coming from a primary setting with a looser approach.

Behaviour and recognition systems are unusually detailed on the school website, which suggests this is an operational priority. Rewards are tracked through Class Charts, with “Praise Points” for academic work, progress, attendance, behaviour, and contribution to the wider community. There are concrete reward milestones, including lapel badges and events such as Principal’s Brunch, and there are specific micro-rewards (for example, Golden Tickets) intended to shape corridor conduct and social times, not just classroom behaviour. The advantage for families is transparency: expectations and incentives are not hidden. The trade-off is that the culture is deliberately reinforced, and students who resist structure may take longer to settle.

Faith is present in a way that goes beyond a label. Collective worship is described as a regular part of school life, and the school articulates a five-year SIAMS inspection cycle, with its first SIAMS inspection in June 2023 graded Excellent. For families that want a school where Christian ethos is visible in routines and language, this alignment will read as coherent. For families seeking a more neutral stance, it is important to understand that the faith dimension is integrated into the way the school describes its work, not just an add-on to the timetable.

Academic performance should be read with two lenses: the school’s relative position compared to other schools in England, and its internal story of improvement and stability over time.

On the comparative lens, the school’s GCSE outcomes place it below the England average range on FindMySchool’s ranking measure. Ranked 3,554th in England and 35th in Leeds for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), it sits within the lower band nationally, meaning it falls within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this specific measure.

The more granular measures show why outcomes can feel mixed across different indicators. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 36.6. Progress 8 is -0.3, which indicates students make less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally (a negative Progress 8 score reflects lower than average progress on that measure). For families, this can translate into a school where results are improving or stabilising, but where supporting consistent progress across the full ability range remains a key focus.

In subject-breadth terms, the English Baccalaureate indicators offer additional context. The school’s EBacc average point score is 2.99, below the England average of 4.08. Meanwhile, 70% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above on the EBacc measure used here. Parents should interpret these as signals about both curriculum access and outcomes in the set of academic subjects that underpin the EBacc headline, while also recognising that the school explicitly positions technical and creative options as part of its offer at Key Stage 4.

Curriculum intent is set out clearly at Key Stage 4, and it gives a good window into teaching priorities. All students follow a core package of English language, English literature, mathematics and combined science, with continued study of PE, religious studies and character education. The school’s stated rationale for continued religious studies is linked to its Church school obligations, while PE is positioned as health-focused rather than purely performance-based.

There is a clear commitment to ensuring students retain at least one academic humanities or language element at GCSE. The school states that students study at least one of geography, history or Spanish, then choose three additional options from a menu that includes practical, technical and creative subjects such as health and social care, construction, food and nutrition, music, drama, photography, art and sports studies. The implication for families is that the model tries to balance academic foundations with employability and interest-driven motivation, rather than forcing a narrowly academic suite on every student.

At Key Stage 3 and across departments, the school’s subject pages reinforce the message that learning is structured and assessment is planned. Science is delivered with a defined key stage structure, and the website references both practical experiments and the role of end-of-unit tests and formal end-of-year exams, which suggests students will encounter routine low-stakes and higher-stakes assessment. Importantly for enrichment, science explicitly references Science Club as an extension route, which gives students with interest in STEM a practical outlet beyond the classroom.

Because the school is 11 to 16, the “next step” conversation is about post-16 destinations rather than an internal sixth form route. The school’s careers programme is detailed and aligned to the Gatsby Benchmarks, with named roles for a careers adviser and careers leader, and a structured programme spanning Years 7 to 11. This suggests that careers is not confined to Year 11, but is built up progressively, including options guidance, encounters with employers, and preparation for applications.

Practical examples help make this tangible. The school has participated in The Brilliant Club programme, with students attending sessions at the University of Leeds and completing an extended essay as part of the programme structure. For families, this is a useful signal that higher education aspiration is supported through external partnerships, not only through internal messaging.

The school also sets out the legal expectation that young people remain in education or training until 18 (Raising the Participation Age), and it outlines broad routes after Year 11: continuing in full-time education, apprenticeships and traineeships, or employment combined with part-time accredited learning. This breadth matters because it frames success as multiple pathways, not just a single sixth-form track.

Admissions are realistic to understand once you separate two things: the coordinated application process run by the local authority, and the school’s own oversubscription criteria, particularly the faith route.

For September 2026 Year 7 entry, the national closing date for applications is 31 October 2025, with offers released on 02 March 2026 under Leeds’ coordinated scheme timeline. Late applications and changes are treated as on-time up to 28 November 2025 in Leeds’ published timeline, and families should pay attention to these dates if they are still visiting schools in early autumn.

The school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) is 180 for Year 7 entry in 2026. This figure is important because it anchors how quickly “oversubscription” can occur if preference patterns change in a given year. Parents comparing options should use the FindMySchoolMap Search to check how their address sits against the school’s priority admission area and any distance-based criteria used once higher priorities are applied.

The admissions criteria used for 2026 entry include a distinctive structure. After looked-after and previously looked-after children, up to 50% of remaining places are allocated to children of active worshipping families from Christian churches, followed by active worshipping families of major world faiths, then a staff commitment category, then community places tied to the priority admission area and siblings, and finally distance. Families applying under faith criteria must also submit a supplementary information form directly to the school by 31 October 2025. This is a common pitfall in faith admissions: submitting the local authority application alone is not sufficient where a supplementary form is required.

A final useful data point is the local authority’s published allocation history on its school details tool. For offer days 2023, 2024 and 2025, the tool indicates that all applicants were admitted. This may change year to year, but it is a helpful reminder that admissions pressure is not always constant across time. Parents deciding whether to use a preference should still check the current year’s pattern rather than assume competition is fixed.

Pastoral support is described in concrete staffing terms. The principal’s welcome references a pastoral team including counsellors, family support workers, and a social, emotional and mental health lead who work alongside heads of year. The value of this model is that pastoral support is likely to be accessible through multiple routes, including year teams and specialist staff, rather than relying on a single pastoral contact.

There is also evidence of external recognition for the wellbeing strand. The school reports achieving the Carnegie Mental Health Award at Gold standard in 2020, positioned as recognition of its approach to therapeutic support. For families with a child who benefits from structured mental health support in school, this may be a meaningful indicator to explore further at open events, asking what provision looks like in practice, how referrals work, and how confidentiality and parental involvement are handled.

Attendance is treated as a shared responsibility, with the school describing both monitoring and support systems, alongside legal framing. While the website does not publish a single “headline” attendance rate on the page reviewed, it does set out named roles within the attendance team and the expectation of early contact where issues arise. This gives parents a clearer picture of who is responsible for attendance interventions and how the school approaches punctuality and absence.

A school’s enrichment offer is only meaningful if it is specific and habitual. Here, the website sets an expectation that students attend at least one club each week. That kind of expectation can raise participation rates, particularly for students who might not otherwise join in, and it can also help new Year 7 students find their peer group quickly.

There are several named activities and programmes that illustrate the shape of the offer. Science Club is referenced explicitly as a route for engineering challenges, investigations, and STEM exploration beyond lessons. Drama Club is also described, with lunchtime sessions to develop skills and support rehearsal and performance work. These examples point to enrichment that is tied to subject departments, not only sports fixtures.

Sport and partnership work appear to be a significant pillar, particularly through rowing and community-linked programmes. The school reports an indoor rowing club that has been running for over five years, with students progressing to open-water sessions through external rowing partners and opportunities connected to events such as national indoor competitions. The broader message is that participation is not limited to traditional school sports; the school is actively building routes into activities that are less common in many state secondaries.

The enrichment strand also includes aspiration-focused opportunities. Participation in The Brilliant Club, including university-based seminars and a substantial essay, is an example of a programme that builds academic confidence and exposure to higher education pathways in a structured way. For families weighing post-16 options early, these experiences can be a useful indicator of how the school approaches ambition across different starting points.

The school day begins at 8:20am and ends at 2:50pm, with five periods and a scheduled lunch break. The site also notes that the school is open for breakfast from 8:05am to 8:20am, and that a breakfast offer operates through its Magic Breakfast partnership, based in the main canteen at the time stated on the school page reviewed.

For transport, the school signposts bus provision via West Yorkshire Metro and references an updated bus timetable and route information effective from September 2024. Families considering a longer commute should ask for the latest route list for their area, as timings can change.

Wraparound care in the primary sense does not apply to a secondary setting, but parents of younger students should still ask how early supervision works beyond the published breakfast window, particularly if relying on public transport that arrives before gates open.

• Admissions route complexity. Applying under faith criteria requires both the local authority application and a supplementary information form submitted to the school by 31 October 2025 for September 2026 entry. Families should be organised early to avoid an administrative miss that affects priority.

• Performance is below England average on some headline measures. GCSE outcomes sit in the lower national band on the FindMySchool ranking, and a Progress 8 of -0.3 indicates lower than average progress on that measure. Families should look closely at support and intervention for their child’s starting point, not just the overall grade.

• A highly structured culture. The rewards framework, character language, and routine emphasis will suit students who benefit from clear boundaries and predictable expectations. Students who dislike structure may need time, and families should ask how the school supports transition and re-engagement.

• No sixth form. Students move on after Year 11, so post-16 planning matters earlier. Families should explore how the careers programme supports applications to sixth forms, colleges and apprenticeships, and how guidance is delivered for different pathways.

This is a faith-centred 11 to 16 school with clearly articulated routines, an unusually transparent behaviour and rewards framework, and a strong emphasis on character education as part of the daily experience. The academic picture is mixed, with GCSE outcomes sitting below England average on the FindMySchool ranking and a negative Progress 8 score, but with a structured curriculum model that blends academic foundations with technical and creative options.

Who it suits: families who value a Church school ethos, consistent expectations, and a school that actively builds participation through clubs, partnerships and a defined character programme. The biggest decision point is fit with structure and the need to plan carefully for post-16 routes after Year 11.