Boston Spa Academy (formerly Boston Spa Comprehensive School) is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

for pupils aged 11–19 years old on Clifford Moor Road in

Boston Spa, West Yorkshire Boston Spa is a village and civil parish in the Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England. Situated south of Wetherby, Boston Spa is on the south bank of the River Wharfe across from Thorp Arch. According to the 2001 census, the ...

, England. It is larger than other secondary schools in the area, with 1500 students on roll, including 350 in the

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. Boston Spa and neighbouring

Wetherby High School Wetherby High School (formerly Wetherby Secondary Modern School) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in the Hallfield area of Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The school is run by the City of Leeds Local Educati ...

have large catchment areas and take pupils from much of north and east Leeds.Over recent years, the proportion of pupils attending Boston Spa Academy from the local areas has significantly increased as the reputation of the school has improved following on from significant improvements in performance. In 2019, Boston Spa was placed in the top 5% of schools nationally and for sixth form was in the highest 250 performing providers in the country.

History

The school developed from the village

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

on High Street. The school opened in 1973. It was made a specialist sports college in 2000, with outside backing from organisations such as

Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

It has led to partnerships with the Leeds United male and female academies. In 2017 Boston Spa School became Boston Spa Academy.

Location and student population

The school is located in a largely suburban and semi-rural area, approximately from

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

. The school community is predominantly White

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

teens. The largest minority ethnic groups are Indian and Pakistani. A specialist learning centre, West Oaks School, is based on the school site. The school was inspected by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

on 9 and 10 May 2012, on the 'no notice' pilot, being notified the day before. It was judged to be a Grade 2 'Good school' with good judgements in each of four key areas in achievement, behaviour and safety.

Alumni

* Stephen Booth, cricketer * Fabian Delph,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international footballer *

Lee Hicken Lee Hicken (born 1981) is a media entrepreneur, film, television and documentary director/producer and owner of award-winning film company The City Talking, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. His most recent project was a documentary series ...

, Film Director * James Husband, professional footballer * Simon Johnson, professional footballer * Matt Jones,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

international footballer *

Jessica Learmonth Jessica Learmonth (born 18 April 1988) is a British triathlete. Learmonth is a European, Commonwealth, Olympic and World Triathlon Series medal winner based in Leeds, England where she trains at the Leeds Triathlon Centre. She won the European T ...

Triathlete *

Tom Lees Thomas James Lees (born 28 November 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Huddersfield Town. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2025. Lees began his career in the youth teams at Leeds before turni ...

, professional footballer *

Aaron Lennon Aaron Justin Lennon (; born 16 April 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right winger. Lennon began his career at hometown club Leeds United, making his first-team debut in 2003 and becoming the youngest player t ...

international footballer *

Jonny Maxted Jonathan James Maxted (born 26 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Brackley Town. Early and personal life Born in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, Maxted grew up in Boston Spa. His uncle, Paul Maxt ...

, professional footballer *

James Milner James Philip Milner (born 4 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. A versatile player, Milner has played in multiple positions, including on either wing, in midfield and ...

international footballer *

Gavin Strachan Gavin David Strachan (born 23 December 1978) is a Scottish professional association football coach, and former player and sports journalist. He is currently a first team coach at Scottish Premiership club Celtic, and he was assistant manager at ...

, professional footballer * Jordan Tansey, professional rugby player *

Simon Walton Simon William Walton (born 13 September 1987) is an English footballer who most recently played as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville. He has played in the Football League for Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers ...

, professional footballer * Sophie Walton, professional footballer *

Aidy White Aidan Peter White (born 10 October 1991) is a former footballer who last played for Rochdale. He has represented both England U19s and Republic of Ireland U21s at international level. Despite an injury-laden career, he achieved considerable su ...

, professional footballer * Danny Williams, professional rugby player *

Alex Zane Alex Zane (born Faris Alexander L. Albayaty) is an English television presenter and DJ. Early and personal life Zane was born in Leeds and attended Boston Spa School before going on to study Medicine at University College London, a course wh ...

, TV presenter and DJ

References

External links

EduBase

Pictures of the school at Flickr

Boston Spa website
{{Authority control Academies in Leeds Secondary schools in Leeds Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in England