Heckmondwike Grammar School, Heckmondwike

Ofsted's report card from its 12 May 2026 inspection grades Heckmondwike Grammar School on 7 areas: 6 strong standard and 1 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils across the school achieve highly."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Leaders ensure that pupils attend school regularly."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have developed a rich and ambitious curriculum."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "High-quality teaching is a priority for all here."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders know the school and their roles very well."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Pupils at this school have a wide range of opportunities to explore their interests and abilities beyond the classroom."

Post-16 provision - Expected standard. "Leaders have an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement in the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to improve the progress and achievement of students in sixth form, especially those who require additional support to reach their potential by the end of Year 13"; "Leaders and those responsible for governance should continue to refine their improvement of pastoral support so that they can achieve and sustain high standards of attendance, especially for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities".

In its own words: "We are a school with a proud history and tradition of success. Hear from the headteacher, and learn more about the staff and governors at HGS, as well as exploring the school's history and our links with other local schools. Join the Old Scholars Association, network with other former students of HGS, and learn about the school’s history."

From the headteacher's welcome: "Learn about the choices available to you for the subjects you can study at GCSE, and how to make your decisions. Any decision you make can affect your future, so it is important that you make your GCSE choices carefully and from an informed position. We support and guide you so that you make the right choices for you."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include drama and chess.

In 2026, pupils at Heckmondwike Grammar School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 78.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.2 in Kirklees and 47 across England.

100% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 46% in Kirklees and 47% in England.

That is down from 80.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 1: pupils made well above 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 76.2, against 79.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 2.9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Heckmondwike Grammar School is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 355 families put Heckmondwike Grammar School as their first choice and 580 named it as one of their preferences, for 207 places offered. That is 1.7 first choices for every place. 151 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Heckmondwike Grammar School admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Heckmondwike Grammar School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Kirklees's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Heckmondwike Grammar School are Spen Valley High School (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 36.3); Westborough High School (1.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.1); St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy (1.4 miles, Inadequate, Attainment 8 34.9); and Batley Grammar School (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.5).

Heckmondwike Grammar School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Of the 207 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 99% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 2% to a further education college.

Of the 218 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 73% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 11% into work. 31% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

6.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 19 pupils (1.2%) received SEN support and 4 (0.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Dewsbury Rail Station, about 1.8 miles away in a straight line.

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Heckmondwike Grammar School, 50 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Heckmondwike Grammar School stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. On income deprivation affecting children it is in the 3rd decile, where the 1st is the most deprived. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 296 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Kirklees (153), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Heckmondwike Grammar School issued 40 suspensions, 2.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Heckmondwike Grammar School are Holy Spirit Catholic Primary Academy (0.1 miles); Heckmondwike Primary Academy (0.2 miles); Healey Junior Infant and Nursery School (0.6 miles); and Millbridge, A Share Primary Academy (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.