Lawnswood School
Lawnswood School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Lawnswood area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
The school was founded in 1972 and had its first comprehensive intake in 1974. Its predecessors were the Leeds Modern School, a boys' grammar school attended by Alan Bennett, and Lawnswood High School for Girls, a girls' grammar school, which moved to the current Lawnswood site in 1932.
The sixth form was judged as Grade 2 and "consistently good" in the 2009 Ofsted inspection, but the school as a whole was rated as Grade 4 for overall effectiveness. and consequently placed into special measures. During an early 2011 Ofsted visit, the school was judged to be "making good progress in all the key areas," and in July 2011 the school was taken out of special measures. In late 2013, Ofsted rated the school Grade 2 for overall effectiveness.
Notable former pupils
- Mark Ballard, former Member of the Scottish Parliament
- Alan Bennett, English playwright, screenwriter and author
- James Brown, founder of Loaded
- Eleanor Catton, 2013 Man Booker Prize winner
- Stephen Connolly, classical singer best known as bass in The King's Singers
- John Craven BBC journalist and television presenter
- Stuart Croft, artist
- Mark Curry, television presenter
- Bob Peck, actor
- Ashfaq Ahmed Malik MBE, Warrant Officer RAF, Military
- Jodie Aysha, singer
- Gaynor Faye, actor
- Ikram Butt, professional rugby league footballer
- Vince Fawcett, professional rugby league footballer
- Noel Whelan, professional Premier League footballer
- Jane Wynne, paediatrician