Carleton High School Review 2026: Improving outcomes, strong culture, and a newly rebuilt base

A school can feel ambitious without feeling harsh, and Carleton High School’s current direction fits that mould. The most recent official inspection (an ungraded visit in November 2024) judged that the school’s work may have improved significantly across all areas, and it describes a clear “Team Carleton” identity where students feel safe and supported.

The basics are straightforward. This is a mixed, non-faith, state secondary for ages 11 to 16, part of Pontefract Academies Trust. It serves the Pontefract community from a large site, with published capacity of 1,050 and 1,021 pupils recorded on Ofsted’s listing.

One recent change is hard to miss in the school’s story, even for families who have not followed the build programme closely. A new teaching block was officially opened in late September 2025, signalling a practical investment in day-to-day learning spaces, alongside the school’s focus on culture and standards.

Carleton’s strongest descriptions, from official sources, are about relationships and belonging. The latest inspection describes a tangible sense of “family” and says the “Team Carleton” ethos is lived by staff and pupils, with students reporting that they feel safe and have strong relationships with trusted adults.

That culture is not presented as soft or unfocused. The same inspection points to high ambition for all pupils and students being supported to become articulate, knowledgeable and mature, with examples of confident conversation with adults and active student leadership in community initiatives. One distinctive example is a termly “Carleton Talks” podcast used to debate themes such as misogyny, healthy eating and religion.

Leadership continuity matters to parents because it shapes priorities, staffing and consistency. Mrs Shaheen Shariff is named as headteacher in the most recent inspection report, and the school announced her appointment as headteacher from 01 September 2022, succeeding Mrs Jo Cross.

Values language is used heavily across Carleton’s published materials, and it is worth treating it as a practical operating framework rather than decoration. The school describes its “Carleton High School Identity” as built around four values, respect, responsibility, determination and excellence, framed as a “golden thread” for students.

Carleton is a non-selective 11 to 16 school, so the fairest way to read outcomes is through a blend of attainment, progress, and local context rather than a single headline statistic.

In GCSE performance terms, the school’s FindMySchool ranking places it in a solid middle band nationally, while standing out locally. Ranked 1,382nd in England and 1st in Pontefract for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), it sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

The Attainment 8 score is 47.4, and the Progress 8 score is +0.12. A positive Progress 8 figure indicates that, on average, students make more progress than pupils with similar starting points across England. For many families, this matters more than raw attainment, particularly where the intake is genuinely comprehensive and includes a wide prior-attainment spread.

EBacc indicators are more mixed, which is common in schools that balance academic routes with a broad offer. The average EBacc APS score is 4.28, and 27.6% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in the EBacc measure. This suggests that the school is supporting a meaningful minority of students to succeed across that academic suite, while also providing pathways beyond it.

A key point for parents is that Carleton’s official inspection narrative aligns with the idea of rising outcomes, not just steady-state performance. The November 2024 ungraded inspection states that evidence suggests the school’s work may have improved significantly across all areas since the previous inspection, and that the next inspection will be graded.

The most recent inspection provides unusually concrete clues about what learning looks like day to day. It describes a sophisticated curriculum designed to help pupils connect important knowledge, with wider learning opportunities, and it reports that pupils talk excitedly about learning. It also highlights a strong emphasis on reading, with weaker readers identified quickly and given targeted support.

A second thread is lesson craft and classroom expectations. The inspection describes teachers linking learning to the wider world through stories and skilful questioning, with high expectations and active participation. It also describes students responding to continual feedback and improving rapidly.

For parents, the implication is practical. This is not a school relying on narrow exam drilling alone. The model being described is coherent curriculum planning plus tight routines, combined with enrichment and broader development. That tends to suit students who do well with clarity and consistency, including those who benefit from structured guidance in the early secondary years.

It is also notable that the school day explicitly builds in time for co-curricular or targeted academic sessions at the end of the day, labelled “Period 6 (Co-curricular/Achieve)” in the published timings.

Carleton is an 11 to 16 school without a sixth form, so all students move on after Year 11. The school’s inspection report notes comprehensive careers guidance and students talking openly about ambitions and how they might achieve them, which is a helpful foundation for the Year 11 transition.

Because published destination percentages are not available here, the most useful way for parents to think about progression is practical readiness for local post-16 routes. That includes:

• Clear guidance on pathways and entry requirements for colleges and apprenticeships.

• A sustained focus on attendance and habits, because these are often the barriers to successful post-16 starts.

• Targeted academic support in Year 11, to keep options open.

Carleton’s published “Achieve” approach supports that last point. The school states that Achieve sessions are compulsory when students are requested to attend, and that Year 11 students receive a personalised Achieve timetable each term.

Carleton is a state school, so there are no tuition fees. The admissions route is the normal local-authority coordinated process for Year 7 entry, with appeals handled through the local authority.

For families planning for September 2026 entry, the school’s admissions page sets out a clear sequence of dates:

• Application deadline: 31 October 2025

• National Offer Day: 02 March 2026

• Deadline for accepting offers and lodging a written appeal: 23 March 2026

• Appeals heard: May to July 2026

If you are shortlisting based on travel, do not rely on general impressions of the area. Use the FindMySchoolMap Search to check routes and realistic door-to-gate travel times from your specific address, then sanity-check that against your child’s tolerance for an early start and after-school commitments.

One additional development that may matter to some families is SEND resourcing. A consultation document states that, from January 2026, an integrated resource provision is to be established to offer up to 20 places for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (with Education, Health and Care Plans), with a staged increase in integration into mainstream classes over time.

The November 2024 inspection states that pupils feel safe and that safeguarding arrangements are effective. That is the headline parents want, but what tends to make the difference day to day is whether students know who to go to and whether the school follows through on small concerns before they become big ones.

Carleton publishes a detailed safeguarding team structure, including a Designated Safeguarding Lead and several supporting roles, including family liaison officers and a safeguarding and inclusion officer. For families new to secondary school systems, this is reassuring because it signals capacity, not a single over-stretched point of contact.

Pastoral culture also shows up in expectations for behaviour and respect. The inspection describes courteous conduct, strong relationships with trusted adults, and a sense that students care deeply for one another. In practice, this tends to reduce friction at transition points, Year 7 settling-in, friendship shifts, and the social pressures that can otherwise dominate early secondary years.

Carleton’s enrichment offer is not presented as optional decoration. It is described as broad, frequent and, importantly, varied in type.

The inspection references a “huge range” of clubs and gives concrete examples that go beyond the usual sports-only picture, including table tennis, volleyball, gymnastics, camera club, cookery and coding. It also notes major trips and visits, including a performing arts visit to Los Angeles mentioned by students.

On the school’s own co-curricular materials, you see how this becomes a structured timetable rather than ad hoc lunchtime activity. A published programme for Spring and Summer 2023 includes clubs with specific identities such as LEGO Club, Carleton Bake/Make Off, Carleton Rocks!, Art of Calligraphy, Proud, Speak Up by the National Theatre London, Made For The Stage, plus a spread of sports clubs and fitness options.

The end-of-day timetable also reinforces the importance of this space. The school day includes “Period 6 (Co-curricular/Achieve)” for each year group, which supports participation for students who might otherwise struggle with transport or caring responsibilities after school.

The published official start time is 8.25am and the official end time is 2.35pm, with a structured day and split social times intended to keep corridors and lunchtimes calm.

After school, the library is published as open daily until 4.05pm, giving students a supervised space for reading, homework or computer use.

Transport is supported by listed school services with published morning and afternoon times on several routes. Families should treat timetables as changeable, but the existence of multiple named routes is useful for planning whether clubs, interventions or Year 11 sessions are realistic without a car.

• A school in improvement mode. The most recent inspection suggests significant improvement since 2019 and signals that the next inspection will be graded. That is positive, but it also means families should ask direct questions about what has changed and what is still being embedded.

• End-of-day commitments are real. The timetable builds in a formal co-curricular or Achieve period and the school runs compulsory targeted sessions when students are requested to attend. This can be a major advantage academically, but it requires planning around transport and family routines.

• SEND developments are evolving. The integrated resource provision for Speech, Language and Communication Needs is being established from January 2026 and scaled over time. For families who may be eligible, the detail matters, including how integration is phased and how EHCP placement decisions are made.

Carleton High School looks like a school with momentum. The culture described in official inspection evidence is warm but purposeful, with strong relationships, clear expectations, and a consistent push on learning and enrichment.

Who it suits: students who respond well to structure, enjoy being part of a strong school identity, and benefit from a mix of academic focus and practical enrichment, including those who will make good use of the end-of-day support and clubs. The main challenge for some families is logistical rather than educational, making sure transport and routines can accommodate co-curricular commitments and targeted sessions.