Laisterdyke Leadership Academy, Bradford

From the headteacher's welcome: "Together with governors, staff, parents/carers and the local community, we aim to create an outstanding school for your children - providing an excellent academic and enriched curriculum, a commitment to exemplary pupil behaviour, and an environment where every pupil is valued and treated as an individual."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, rugby, badminton, drama, STEM, art, film, book club and homework club.

In 2026, pupils at Laisterdyke Leadership Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 38.1, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 42.6 in Bradford and 47 across England.

37% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 40% in Bradford and 47% in England.

That is up from 36.1 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.43: 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 34.7, against 42.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 7.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 16 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Religious Studies and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 151 families put Laisterdyke Leadership Academy as their first choice and 365 named it as one of their preferences, for 176 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 5 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Laisterdyke Leadership Academy are Carlton Bolling (1.1 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 43.8); Bradford Forster Academy (1.2 miles, Inadequate, Attainment 8 37.7); Feversham Girls' Secondary Academy (1.4 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 55.3); and Bronte Girls' Academy (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.9).

Laisterdyke Leadership Academy's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.

Laisterdyke Leadership Academy is one of 36 schools run by Star Academies, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 50.6 in 2024/25.

Of the 165 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 83% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 45% to a further education college and 1% into work.

48.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 69.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (68%) and Mixed (8%).

Laisterdyke Leadership Academy had 38 teachers in 2026, one for every 23 pupils: fewer teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Bradford Interchange Rail Station, about 1.5 miles away in a straight line.

14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Laisterdyke Academy, 100 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Laisterdyke Leadership Academy stands in is among the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Laisterdyke Leadership Academy issued 142 suspensions, 16 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to Laisterdyke Leadership Academy are Thornbury Primary Leadership Academy (0.2 miles), Dixons Marchbank Primary (0.3 miles), Lapage Primary School and Nursery (0.4 miles) and Killinghall Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.