Brighouse High School, Brighouse

Ofsted's report card from its 24 March 2026 inspection grades Brighouse High School on 7 areas: 4 expected standard and 3 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Most pupils attend school regularly."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders identify the needs of pupils quickly and accurately."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "There is a coherent programme of personal development across all key stages."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Leaders carefully design sixth-form study programmes to meet the needs of the students in the cohort."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Where there are weaknesses in teaching, a minority of pupils have gaps in their learning that limit how well they achieve."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "Weaknesses in teaching are currently limiting how well pupils learn."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders have a broad awareness of the school's strengths and areas for improvement."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders and governors should precisely identify priorities for improvement to bring about swift, effective improvement, particularly with regards to pupils' experiences in learning and their achievement"; "Leaders should ensure that all staff regularly access high-quality, evidence-informed professional learning, which includes planned opportunities for them to apply and embed practice"; "Leaders should ensure that highly effective teaching is embedded across the school so that all groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make secure progress across the curriculum"; "Leaders should ensure their actions lead to improved outcomes in national tests for all pupils, including achievement at the highest levels for sixth-form students".

In 2026, pupils at Brighouse High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 43.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 49 in Calderdale and 47 across England.

38% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 51% in Calderdale and 47% in England.

That is up from 40 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.24: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 30.4, against 46.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 16.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Religious Studies and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 198 families put Brighouse High School as their first choice and 462 named it as one of their preferences, for 203 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 4 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Brighouse High School are Lightcliffe Academy (0.7 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 37.3); Rastrick High School (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 50.9); Appleton Academy (2.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36); and Park Lane Academy (2.4 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 32.3).

Brighouse High School's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

218 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Brighouse High School (as of April 2026): 66% would recommend the school, 67% say their child is happy there and 37% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (70%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (37%).

Of the 208 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 82% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 25% to a further education college, 9% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 115 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 47% went on to university or other higher education, 12% to apprenticeships and 22% into work. 4% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

3.3% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The nearest railway station is Brighouse Rail Station, about 1.2 miles away in a straight line.

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Brighouse High School, 20 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Brighouse High School stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Brighouse High School issued 305 suspensions, 23.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Brighouse High School are St Joseph's Catholic Primary Academy, Brighouse (0.1 miles); Trinity Academy St Chad's (0.2 miles); St Andrew's Church of England (VA) Infant School (0.4 miles); and Cliffe Hill Community Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.