The Crossley Heath School, Halifax

In its own words: "We truly look forward to welcoming students to The Crossley Heath School and championing their success throughout every moment of their time with us. We are a school with a heart and consider our staff, students and their families to be a school family."

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome! My name is Dean Jones and I am the Headteacher here at The Crossley Heath School. We adopted the name The Crossley Heath School in 1985 in recognition of our shared history from the founding schools of Heath Grammer School (c1600) and Crossley & Porter School (c1857)."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby and debating.

In 2026, pupils at The Crossley Heath School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 73.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 49 in Calderdale and 47 across England.

97% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 51% in Calderdale and 47% in England.

That is down from 74.5 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.49: pupils made 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 66.2, against 74.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.1 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

The Crossley Heath 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, 293 families put The Crossley Heath School as their first choice and 655 named it as one of their preferences, for 177 places offered. That is 1.7 first choices for every place. 128 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The Crossley Heath 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, The Crossley Heath School ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Calderdale'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.

Calderdale has 2 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Crossley Heath School are The Halifax Academy (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.6); Trinity Academy Grammar (1.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 45.4); Park Lane Academy (1.5 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 32.3); and Ryburn Valley High School (2.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.1).

The Crossley Heath School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

The Crossley Heath School is run by its own single-school academy trust.

62 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Crossley Heath School (as of September 2025): 95% would recommend the school, 98% say their child is happy there and 82% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (98%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (82%).

Of the 179 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 98% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 3% to a further education college.

Of the 122 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 67% went on to university or other higher education, 4% to apprenticeships and 11% into work. 31% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

8.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 28.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (56%) and White British (30%).

In 2026, 48 pupils (4.1%) received SEN support and 10 (0.8%) 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 autism.

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

15 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Skircoat Moor Road Albert Promenade (adjacent), 110 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 388 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Calderdale (102), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Crossley Heath School issued 13 suspensions, 1.1 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Crossley Heath School are Savile Park Primary School (0.2 miles); Holy Trinity Primary School, A Church of England Academy (0.4 miles); Parkinson Lane Community Primary School (0.4 miles); and St Mary's Catholic Primary Academy (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.