Whitby School Review 2026: Two-site secondary with sixth form, rebuilding momentum after merger

Whitby School serves students aged 11 to 19 on the West Cliff, with teaching split across two sites and a sixth form that is a clear bright spot. The school returned to the Whitby School name in September 2024 following the merger of two local secondaries, a period of change that has shaped both priorities and public perception.

Academic performance at GCSE sits in line with the middle 35% of schools in England, while A-level outcomes are in the lower band nationally in the latest dataset. Behaviour and attendance are central improvement themes, and families will want to understand how consistently routines are applied beyond lessons. The advantage for many Whitby families is straightforward: this is the town’s main secondary option with a sizeable sixth form and a local identity rooted in place, history, and community.

The school’s language leans heavily into Whitby’s seafaring heritage. The house system is based on Captain Cook’s ships, with Resolution, Adventure, Discovery, and Endeavour used to structure competitions, assemblies, and house points across year groups. That framing tends to work well in a coastal town where local history is part of daily life, and it gives the school a consistent set of reference points for rewards and belonging.

The motto is stated explicitly by the school as Ad finem terrae (To the ends of the earth). It is used as more than branding, it is tied to ambition, horizon-setting, and the idea that students’ futures do not have to be limited by geography.

Leadership and roles are presented as a team structure. The Get Information About Schools register lists the headteacher as Mr David Perry, and the school also publishes an Executive Headteacher role alongside a Head of School and a wider senior team. In practice, families are likely to experience leadership through site-based routines, pastoral systems, and the consistency of behaviour expectations during social time.

A key contextual point is that change has been recent and structural, not cosmetic. Ofsted’s most recent graded inspection took place in November 2023, just before the September 2024 merger, and it highlights that progress and stability were being managed alongside amalgamation planning. That matters because parents are often trying to judge the “now” of a school while public headline judgements reflect the “then” of a previous organisational shape.

For GCSE outcomes, Whitby School is ranked 2,435th in England and 1st in Whitby (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This places results broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile), a “solid middle” picture rather than an outlier at either extreme.

At GCSE level, the school’s average Attainment 8 score is 43.9 and Progress 8 is -0.1, suggesting that, on average, students make slightly below-average progress from their starting points compared with similar students nationally. The EBacc average points score is 3.67, and 12.4% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in the EBacc measure used.

The sixth form picture, by contrast, is more challenging in the comparative ranking, even though inspection evidence highlights strengths in curriculum and support post-16. Whitby School is ranked 2,217th in England and 2nd in Whitby for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), placing it in the below-England-average band.

In the A-level grade profile provided, 3.64% of grades are A*, 3.64% are A, and 20% are B. The A* to B proportion is 27.27%, compared with an England benchmark of 47.2%. This is an area where families should ask careful questions about subject choice, support for independent study, and entry requirements for particular courses.

Parents comparing local options may find it helpful to use the FindMySchool Local Hub comparison tools to view GCSE and A-level performance side-by-side against nearby schools, because Whitby’s geographic position can make “nearest alternatives” less straightforward than in urban areas.

The most helpful way to understand teaching at Whitby School is to separate intent from consistency. The curriculum is described (in official inspection evidence) as increasingly ambitious at key stage 3, with a wider range of content than previously. The challenge is that implementation has not been equally strong across subjects, and assessment has not always checked pupils’ deeper understanding well enough, which can leave gaps unnoticed until later.

There are also signs of targeted, structured support where gaps are identified. The school publishes a clear interventions menu that includes specific programmes rather than generic “support” language. Examples include Lexia (a computer-based reading programme focused on phonics and adapting to individual needs), and numeracy interventions such as First Class @ Numbers and Success @ Arithmetic for students who need to close gaps in foundational number work.

For older students, the school also runs Study Skills Plus after school from 3.30pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday to Thursday, with Learning Support Assistants available to help pupils and students who need additional support with homework. That is a practical detail that matters, particularly for students who benefit from routine, structure, or a calmer working environment than home provides.

In the sixth form, curriculum design is described in formal evidence as well-considered and matched to students’ needs, with support for both academic development and broader readiness for next steps. In day-to-day terms, families should ask how that support shows up, for example, supervised study expectations, subject clinics, structured UCAS support, and how quickly underperformance is flagged and addressed.

Whitby School has a sixth form, and the destination picture here is mixed, with a strong need to align pathways to student profile and ambition.

In the 2023 to 2024 leavers cohort (83 students), 27% progressed to university, 33% went into employment, 8% started apprenticeships, and 2% entered further education in the destination categories recorded. This is a school where apprenticeships and employment are material parts of the post-18 landscape, not just a footnote.

At the highest-selectivity end, the Oxbridge data indicates two Cambridge applications with one acceptance in the measurement period provided, and one combined Oxbridge acceptance overall. That is a small number, but it signals that specialist support for top-end applications exists and can be successful when the right student profile aligns with course choice and preparation.

For many families, the most important question is not whether a small number can reach the very top, but how consistently the sixth form supports the full ability range to secure good outcomes. Given the destination mix, strong guidance around apprenticeships, local and regional employment, and realistic university pathways is likely to be central to “fit” for post-16.

Whitby School is a state school, so there are no tuition fees for attendance. Admissions at age 11 are coordinated through North Yorkshire Council for secondary entry, rather than handled as a fee-paying admissions process.

For September 2026 entry into Year 7 in North Yorkshire, the council timetable states that the secondary application round opens on 12 September 2025, the deadline to apply is 31 October 2025, and the last date for changes is 30 November 2025. Families should treat those as hard operational dates, particularly if they are balancing multiple schools or a house move.

For sixth form entry, Whitby School publishes a timetable pattern rather than fixed dates in the admissions policy. The published approach is: a sixth form open evening in the autumn term, followed by post-16 interviews in the spring term, and conditional offers issued in spring. Families considering sixth form should check the school calendar and sixth form pages for the current year’s events and booking arrangements.

Demand metrics in the supplied dataset relate to the primary entry route rather than Year 7, so the most reliable practical guidance for secondary entry is the local authority timetable and the school’s oversubscription criteria in its published admissions arrangements.

Parents who are relying on proximity criteria (or trying to understand how realistic a place is after a house move) should use FindMySchool Map Search to check their distance and compare it with the last distance offered where that data exists for a school. For Whitby School, a distance figure is not provided in the supplied admissions dataset, so it is especially important to read the North Yorkshire criteria and understand what applies in the year of entry.

Whitby School’s wellbeing picture is best read with two lenses: what happens in lessons, and what happens during unstructured time. In formal evidence, behaviour in lessons is generally described as calm enough for learning, with positive staff-pupil relationships supporting focus. The more difficult area is behaviour outside lessons, where orderliness has not been consistent, and where a minority of students and parents have had concerns about bullying and social-time conduct.

Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and the school has been through a major safeguarding review supported by the local authority, with improvements in practice linked to that work. The area to watch is the school’s ability to track patterns of behaviour concerns closely enough to spot emerging issues early, because that is often where reassurance for families is won or lost.

Attendance is another priority area. Formal evidence describes participation in a Department for Education project to address barriers to attendance, with some improvement for some pupils, but with overall absence remaining too high at the time of the inspection evidence. That is relevant for learning culture, peer behaviour, and outcomes, because attendance patterns often cluster in friendship groups and can become self-reinforcing without firm routines.

For pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the school states that pupils access the same curriculum as peers, with staff awareness of needs and a combination of classroom adjustments and structured intervention. The published interventions menu and the existence of resourced provision and on-site alternative provision in the earlier inspection evidence point to a school that is trying to keep support practical and embedded, rather than purely paperwork-driven.

Whitby School places a strong emphasis on participation as part of identity, partly through the house system and partly through structured clubs, competitions, and events. The Captain Cook house model creates a simple mechanism for cross-year teamwork, and the use of house points for actions and achievements gives staff a consistent language for recognition.

On the sporting side, published materials show a structured extracurricular timetable with year-group clubs such as Year 7 and 8 football and basketball, and the school’s newsletters also reference sport beyond the obvious, including equestrian news and district-level fixtures. For families, the key implication is that sport appears to be organised as regular weekly habits, not only seasonal teams, which tends to suit students who benefit from routine and belonging.

There is also evidence of enrichment that reaches beyond Whitby, including a Camps International expedition opportunity to Cambodia in July 2026, with an information evening hosted in the Learning Centre. Experiences of that scale are demanding in fundraising and commitment, but for the right student they can be genuinely formative, particularly in confidence, independence, and perspective.

For students who prefer leadership and service roles, the sixth form promotes a student leadership model tied to representing the sixth form at open evenings, helping to organise charity and student events, and contributing to policy review in areas such as uniform and curriculum. That is a practical pathway for students who want responsibility without needing to be the loudest voice in the room.

The published school day structure expects students to arrive by 8.50am, with tutorial from 8.55am and lessons running until 3.30pm. Families planning transport between sites or coordinating with siblings will want to build around that fixed end time.

Whitby School operates on two sites in the town, Prospect Hill and Airy Hill. This is operationally important, because it affects travel time, uniform and equipment routines, and how students experience “school identity” day to day.

Uniform expectations include a house-colour tie option priced at £8, while many other uniform items are designed to be sourced from mainstream retailers, a deliberate cost-control approach for families.

• Behaviour during social time. The key challenge flagged in formal evidence is not classroom conduct but the consistency of behaviour outside lessons, including concerns raised by some pupils about peer behaviour and vaping in toilets. This matters because it influences whether students feel relaxed and safe at break and lunch.

• Attendance remains a priority. Attendance improvement work is underway, but absence levels were described as too high in the latest formal evidence. Families should ask how attendance is monitored, how quickly concerns are escalated, and what support exists for anxious or persistently absent students.

• Sixth form outcomes require careful course fit. The dataset suggests A-level outcomes are below England benchmarks overall, even though the sixth form was judged stronger than the main school in inspection evidence. Students who are self-directed and choose suitable pathways can do well, but this is a sixth form where structure and study habits matter.

• A school still bedding in after structural change. The September 2024 merger and leadership changes form part of the recent story. Some families will value the momentum of a “new chapter”; others may prefer to see a longer period of settled performance data before committing.

Whitby School is a large, locally rooted secondary with a meaningful sixth form and a clear attempt to build identity through Whitby’s history, house culture, and structured support. GCSE outcomes sit broadly in the England middle band in the provided rankings, while post-16 outcomes are more variable and depend heavily on course fit and study habits. The latest formal evidence highlights that safeguarding is effective and the sixth form curriculum is well designed, but behaviour outside lessons and attendance are key improvement priorities.

Who it suits: students who benefit from clear routines, a house-based community structure, and practical academic support, including structured interventions and after-school study support. Families who want strong reassurance on behaviour at social times, or who are targeting highly academic sixth form outcomes, should ask detailed questions and look for evidence of consistent implementation across subjects and year groups.