The first three series of Ackley Bridge received praise from critics and viewers, who liked that the programme represented minority groups and tackled real-world issues.

They felt that Channel 4 moving Ackley Bridge to a 6pm time slot had led to the edgy storylines being softened and that the long-term characters did not receive enough screen-time.

Rebecca Holdsworth, Channel 4's commissioning executive, stated that the shortened runtime was to reflect the viewing habits of younger viewers and to give the series "a new look and feel".

[23] In a statement, they said: "As a broadcaster, we’re immensely proud of Ackley Bridge, which over the last five series has received praise for the way in which it has tackled real-life situations and issues in an irreverent and insightful way.

She felt comfortable acting scenes with Poppy Lee Friar, who plays best friend Missy Booth, due to having a friendship in real life.

[28][29] Former EastEnders actors Jo Joyner and Paul Nicholls received the parts of married couple Mandy Carter, the headteacher of Ackley Bridge College, and Steve Bell, a PE teacher.

[31] Adil Ray was cast as school sponsor Sadiq Nawaz,[32] as well as Liz White also joining the series as English teacher Emma Keane.

[33] Maariah Hussain and Samuel Bottomley, both students at Yorkshire School of Acting in Bradford, were cast as Alya Nawaz and Jordan Wilson, respectively.

[34] Cody Ryan got the part of Hayley Booth through an acting workshop at her school, Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, which was run by Beverley Keogh casting agency.

[36] In the second series, Tony Jayawardena was cast as Rashid Hyatt, a science teacher at Ackley Bridge College, and a love interest of Kaneez.

[39] Vicky Entwistle guest-starred in the series as the secret wife of Iqbal,[40] as well as Kimberley Walsh, who appeared as "home-wrecking netball teacher" Claire Butterworth.

New castings for the series included Adam Little as Kyle Dobson, the younger brother of Marina, and Laila Zaidi as Asma Farooqi, a new "hotshot teacher [who] ruffles some feathers".

"[54] Sam Wollaston from The Guardian wrote that Ackley Bridge is similar to a mixture of Waterloo Road and Shameless, and praised their use of social media in the series.

[57] The child abuse storyline in series two involving Jordan (Bottomley) and Cory Wilson (Sam Retford) received praise from media and viewers, who thanked the producers for handling a difficult subject gracefully; Joe Anderton of Digital Spy added that "we can definitely put all the comparisons to Waterloo Road aside".

[58] Retford received praise again following Cory's troubled home life, mental illness and poverty being covered, with Digital Spy noting that the Ackley Bridge "has never been one to shy away from serious, real-world issues".

[61] In a similar article a year later, Sarah Hughes of The Guardian praised the third series for continuing to explore dark moments while also balancing them with light-hearted comedy.