Our Lady's Catholic High School

Voluntary aided school·Secondary school Preston, Lancashire·PR2 3SQ
Composite score
62.5
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#919
National rank
#107
In North West
#21
In Lancashire
Top 29%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
50.0
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
43%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
71%
% EBacc grade 5+
14%
EBacc average points score
4.22

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

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

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
91%
163 first choices, 175 places
First choices per place
0.93
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
623
any preference, for 175 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.01
00.511.52
1 per place
1.3920221.1920231.0320240.9220250.932026

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 Our Lady's Catholic 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
902
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
18.3%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
13.1%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
8.7%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.1%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
6.4%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
13.8%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
16.8
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,551
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
88%
177 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
76%
Apprenticeship
6%
Employment
6%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Our Lady's Catholic High School is a secondary school serving Preston, Lancashire, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 902 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Our Lady's Catholic High School 'Good'. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 50.0 — above the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 0.8 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 29% of secondary schools nationally.

43% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 71% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. 91% of the families who made Our Lady's Catholic 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, 88% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 6.4%. There are about 16.8 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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