Wensleydale School, Leyburn

Good
Secondary
Community school
Mixed
Ages 1116

Data last updated 11 Sept 2026

Location

Key Information

DfE GIAS
Head:Mrs Julia Polley
Pupils:407 / 440 capacity
LA:North Yorkshire
Phone:01969622244
Address:Richmond Road, Leyburn, DL8 5HY
Admissions:Non-selective
Status:open

Ofsted Rating

Good

Overall

URN:121679
UKPRN:10007390
Diocese:Not applicable
Constituency:Richmond and Northallerton
Urban/Rural:Larger rural: Further from a major town or city

Ofsted Insights

What This School Does Well

Wensleydale School excels at making every pupil feel welcome and included. Staff work closely with families to understand each child's needs and provide carefully tailored support, so pupils with different abilities all make good progress. The school offers a wonderful range of enrichment activities - from sport and music to the Combined Cadet Force - giving all pupils chances to develop confidence and explore new interests.

Key Strengths

  • Inclusion is a key strength - staff quickly identify barriers to learning and provide expertly adjusted support through detailed 'pupil passports'
  • Strong safeguarding culture where all staff take responsibility and concerns are actively managed
  • Excellent pastoral support and positive relationships between staff and pupils create a calm, safe environment
  • Well-designed broad curriculum that builds on prior knowledge, with good support for foundational skills
  • Committed leadership focused on staff wellbeing and continuous improvement

Areas for Improvement

  • Quality of teaching is not yet consistent across the school - leaders are addressing this through targeted training
  • Written work quality is variable and inconsistent across subjects, impacting knowledge building
  • A small number of pupils do not consistently demonstrate respect for protected characteristics and need support to improve their language

Safeguarding

Safeguarding standards are met - the school has created an open and positive culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified and managed, making pupils safer and helping them feel safe.

Extracurricular Activities

Sport, music, chess, Combined Cadet Force, trips to London and France, careers fair, work experience

Wensleydale School is a welcoming community school where pupils feel safe and included. The school achieves expected standards overall with particular strengths in inclusion and pupil wellbeing.

At a Glance

17.0%

Free School Meals

No

Boarding

No

Nursery

No

Sixth Form

ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder

SEN Provision

No

Special Measures

Class Sizes

21.6

Avg class size

18

Total classes

2024/25 academic year

Getting There

Tube / Metro / Tram

Leyburn (Wensleydale Railway)
602m · 10 min walk

Bus Stops

Wenslydale School (NE-bound)
201m · 3 min walk
Dale Grove (S-bound)
267m · 4 min walk
Mount Drive (N-bound)
268m · 4 min walk
Market Place (adj)
547m · 9 min walk
Yoredale Ave (adj)
562m · 9 min walk
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Capacity & Demand

School Occupancy

93%

Near capacity

407 pupils

440 capacity

33 spare places available

Area Demand Pressure - Leyburn

Medium pressure
New homes approved:170
Projected new pupils:31

Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Leyburn

Admissions Demand - North Yorkshire

Low demand0.79x oversubscription

Places available

7,139

Applications

5,644

Got 1st preference

92.6%

Got preferred school

98.7%

Secondary admissions across North Yorkshire (2025/26)

Inspection History(112)

Date not published by Ofsted
Good
Date not published by Ofsted
Good
Date not published by Ofsted
Good

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SEN Provision

How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.

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Pupil Demographics

The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.

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Teachers & Staff

Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.

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School Funding

Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.

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Pupil Absence
2024/25

7.9071%

Overall absence

24.25743%

Persistent absence

404

Enrolments

Authorised6.48177%
Unauthorised1.42533%
Persistent (10%+)24.25743%
Severe (50%+)2.22772%

Absence trend

5.3406%
18/19
3.88085%
20/21
9.47306%
21/22
9.5471%
22/23
9.32128%
23/24
7.9071%
24/25
Overall absence rate

Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.

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