Penwortham Girls' High School

Community school·Secondary school Preston, Lancashire·PR1 0SR
Composite score
66.1
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#619
National rank
#62
In North West
#14
In Lancashire
Top 20%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
52.9
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
55%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
74%
% EBacc grade 5+
40%
EBacc average points score
5.05

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Outstanding
Quality of education
Outstanding
Behaviour and attitudes
Outstanding
Personal development
Outstanding
Leadership and management
Outstanding
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
86%
159 first choices, 161 places
First choices per place
0.99
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
480
any preference, for 161 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.05
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8820221.0120231.1120241.0420250.992026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Lancashire does not publish how far from the school the last child offered a Year 7 place lived, so there is no cut-off distance to show for Penwortham Girls' High School. Ask the school or the council how places were allocated this year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
800
Gender
Girls
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
17.1%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
11.1%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
7.8%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.0%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
6.7%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
16.8%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
17.1
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,622
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
93%
154 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
90%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
3%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Penwortham Girls' High School

Penwortham Girls' High School is a girls' secondary school in Preston, Lancashire, classified by the DfE as a community school. Around 800 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds an 'Outstanding' judgement from Ofsted. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 52.9 — above the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 4.6 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it among the top 20% of secondary schools in England.

55% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, above the national average of about 45%. 74% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 86% of the families who made Penwortham Girls' High School their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. After Year 11, 93% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 6.7%. There are about 17.1 pupils per teacher. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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