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  • St Aidan's Church of England High School
    Oatlands Drive
    Harrogate
    HG2 8JR
  • Head: Siân Dover
  • T 01423 885814
  • F 01423 884327
  • E admin@staidans.co.uk
  • W www.staidans.co.uk/
  • A state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18.
  • Boarding: No
  • Local authority: North Yorkshire
  • Pupils: 1,989; sixth formers: 654 (combined with St John Fisher High)
  • Religion: Church of England
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
  • Ofsted:
    • Latest Overall effectiveness Good 1
      • 16-19 study programmes Outstanding 1
      • Outcomes for children and learners Good 1
      • Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1
      • Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 1
      • Effectiveness of leadership and management Good 1
    • 1 Full inspection 19th May 2022
  • Previous Ofsted grade: Inadequate on 28th September 2021
  • Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report

What says..

Very good results founded on excellent relationships between teachers (who receive regular, high level professional development) and pupils – the ones we spoke to were very grateful for the generosity of their teachers: 'They're always willing to do 10 times more than they have to'; 'You can always see them in breaks or after school'. Christian values central, apparent in the concern shown to all pupils as individuals, whether providing after-school help with preparing for an audition or ensuring a severely disabled student can go on a London performing arts trip...

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What the school says...

Converted to an academy 2011.

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What The Good Schools Guide says

Headteacher

Since September 2023, Siân Dover, previously principal of Oasis Academy Lister Park in Bradford. A geography and PE graduate, she was previously part of the leadership team that saw Nidderdale High School ranked within the top 100 schools in the country for securing outstanding GCSE outcomes.

Entrance

Heavily oversubscribed. Complicated admissions policy a challenge to get your mind round (but school will help with applications if needed) and known to inspire pre-emptive pew perching: after looked after children and those with a sibling already at the school, 80 per cent foundation places for Christians living in the Anglican dioceses of Harrogate and Ripon, with points for church attendance of children and parents (also uses proximity by nearest route); five places for children with demonstrated medical/social need and five for ones of other faiths living in the...

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Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

St. Aidan's has an outstanding reputation in the local area for care and concern for the less able and others with special educational needs. The school has a Down's syndrome child, a number with acute hearing problems and several with Asperger's at differing levels. There are 38 children in the school with a statement of special educational need. Nov 09.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
Aspergers Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
English as an additional language (EAL)
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class
HI - Hearing Impairment
Hospital School
Mental health
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

Interpreting catchment maps

The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.

Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.

For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained

Further reading

If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.

Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.

Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.

*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.

The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.

Children get into the school from here:

regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year


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