A KEIGHLEY school has pulled itself up from being classed “inadequate” by Ofsted.

University Academy Keighley was given the lowest judgement by the school inspection body in June 2016, when inspectors found that too few pupils made expected progress.

Inspectors returned to the school last month, and in a soon-to-be-published report have moved the academy up a grade, although it still “requires improvement” in every category.

The school, in Green Head Road, has 690 pupils, including 46 sixth-form pupils.

The report says pupils now make better progress than when the school was last inspected, that school leaders have recognised that some aspects of the curriculum were not “fit for purpose,” that staff absence levels have decreased and improvements to bring about better teaching were now in place.

It adds: “The recently appointed principal and her senior leaders work hard to raise pupils’ aspirations for their futures. Leaders’ belief that University Academy Keighley is ‘a great place to learn’ is in the early stages, and some pupils are starting to realise that they can achieve.”

The inadequate judgement was made shortly before the school was due to join the Wakefield City Academy Trust, but last year the chain dramatically pulled out of the arrangement. In response, UAK stepped up its partnership with current academy sponsors, the University of Bradford.

Bernie Addison, principal since April 2016, said: “We are delighted that the school had been moved out of a category of concern in such a short space of time.

“Ofsted has recognised the rapid and significant improvements at UAK over the last 18 months and I see this as a stepping stone to achieving our ambition of being an outstanding school for Keighley families.

"Governors, staff and the local community have all worked together to achieve this for our pupils. There is so much more we want to do at UAK and this is really a positive step in the right direction.”

Joanne Marshall – chairman of the governing body – stated, on behalf of the University of Bradford: “This is very welcome news and comes on top of the excellent results achieved this year both in GCSEs and levels of progress. The school, staff and pupils should be extremely proud of all that they have achieved.”