Holy Cross Catholic High School

Voluntary aided school·Secondary school Chorley, Lancashire·PR7 3LS
Composite score
68.8
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#469
National rank
#41
In North West
#11
In Lancashire
Top 15%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
55.0
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
67%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
79%
% EBacc grade 5+
24%
EBacc average points score
4.92

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
82%
216 first choices, 189 places
First choices per place
1.14
more first choices than places
Applications naming the school
604
any preference, for 189 places
Applications from another council area
4%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.01
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0920221.2520231.1320241.1420251.142026

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 Holy Cross 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
977
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
13.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
6.6%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
14.6%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.6%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
7.0%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
18.9%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
16.9
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£6,988
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
90%
193 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
81%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
5%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

School overview

Holy Cross Catholic High School is a secondary school serving Chorley, Lancashire, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 977 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 55.0 — above the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 1.9 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it among the top 15% of secondary schools in England.

67% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well above the national average of about 45%. 79% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Holy Cross Catholic High School is oversubscribed: about 8 in 10 of the families who made it their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, with 216 first choices for 189 places. After Year 11, 90% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.0%. There are about 16.9 pupils per teacher. Holy Cross Catholic High School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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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