King James's School is a mixed local-authority maintained secondary school in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire Council, teaching 1,554 pupils aged 11 to 18. Its last Ofsted inspection in January 2023 found the school remains Good. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 46.1 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 2 September 2025 to 17 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for King James's School.

Latest inspection
Good Ungraded inspection
Outcome: School remains Good. Ungraded (short) inspections confirm whether standards are maintained since the last full graded inspection — they don’t assign new category grades.
Ungraded inspection · Inspected 11 Jan 2023 · Published 5 Mar 2023
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for King James's School.

King James's School term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 Training Day
  • 2 Autumn Term starts
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 10 Training Day
  • 27–31 Autumn Half Term Holiday
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 19 Autumn Term ends
  • 22–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day (Bank Holiday)
  • 26 Boxing Day (Bank Holiday)
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–2 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year's Day (Bank Holiday)
  • 5 Spring Term starts
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term Holiday
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 27 Spring Term ends
  • 30–31 Easter Holiday
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–10 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday (Bank Holiday)
  • 6 Easter Monday (Bank Holiday)
  • 13 Summer Term starts
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25–29 Summer Half Term Holiday
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 17 Summer Term ends
  • 20–31 Summer Holiday
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Holiday
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Autumn Term starts Sep 2, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Holiday Oct 27 - Oct 31, 2025 Holiday
  • Autumn Term ends Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term starts Jan 5, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Holiday Feb 16 - Feb 20, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Term ends Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Easter Holiday Mar 30 - Apr 10, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term starts Apr 13, 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term Holiday May 25 - May 29, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Term ends Jul 17, 2026 Term
  • Summer Holiday Jul 20 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Training Day Sep 1, 2025 Inset Day
  • Training Day Oct 10, 2025 Inset Day
  • New Year's Day (Bank Holiday) Jan 1, 2026 Holiday
  • Good Friday (Bank Holiday) Apr 3, 2026 Holiday
  • Easter Monday (Bank Holiday) Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day (Bank Holiday) Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day (Bank Holiday) Dec 26, 2025 Holiday

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
46.1 Attainment 8 England 46.1 Top 39%
41.3% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4%
34.98 A level average score England 35
24.1% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare King James's School with North Yorkshire Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 46.1 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school North Yorkshire Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 46.1
North Yorkshire Council 46.5 England 46.1 in line with England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 41.3%
North Yorkshire Council 47% England 45.4% -4.1 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 34.2
North Yorkshire Council 31.2 England 34.9 in line with England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 14.4
North Yorkshire Council 18.9 England 15.5 -1.1 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 17.4%
North Yorkshire Council 18.9% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 259
16 to 18 (A level & sixth form) 34.98 A level average point score

Results for students finishing post-16 study.

This school North Yorkshire Council England

A level average point score · Per entry, 50 = A* 34.98
North Yorkshire Council 35.74 England 35 in line with England
A level students · Small cohorts swing wildly 100
Attendance 24.1% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school North Yorkshire Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 24.1%
North Yorkshire Council 16.8% England 17.8% +6.3 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 8.9%
North Yorkshire Council 6.7% England 6.8% +2.1 vs England
What pupils do after GCSEs 93% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school North Yorkshire Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 93%
North Yorkshire Council 94% England 92% +1 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 73%
North Yorkshire Council 84% England 83% -10 vs England
What students do after 16 to 18 study 90% In education, apprenticeship or work

Destinations the year after finishing post-16 study.

This school North Yorkshire Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 90%
North Yorkshire Council 85% England 79% +11 vs England
Went to higher education 38%
North Yorkshire Council 42% England 37% +1 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for King James's School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to King James's School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.