Our Lady's Catholic High School
Preston, PR2 3SQ · Lancashire · secondary school
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16th of 82 secondary schools in Lancashire we can score. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
Its results hold up when the comparison narrows to schools whose pupils have similar backgrounds — 6.9/10 against 864 of them, against 7.3/10 nationally. So this is not simply a reflection of who attends. Both figures are results only, without the inspection grade. A lower figure here means a stronger comparison group, not a weaker school.
How this is worked out
| Measure | Percentile | Weight | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ofsted | 52 | 35% | 1.84 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths 2025/26 | 54.7 · 73 | 30% | 2.18 |
| Progress 8 2023/24 | 0.24 · 68 | 25% | 1.70 |
| Attainment 8 2025/26 | 54.9 · 85 | 10% | 0.85 |
Each measure is read as a position among comparable schools, so a school in the middle of the country scores 5. Full method.
Our Lady's Catholic High School overview
How it's doing
The school is rated Good by Ofsted, following an inspection in 2022. In 2024/25, 42.8% of pupils achieved Grade 5 or above in English and maths. Attainment 8 was 50.0, compared to the national median of 44.6. Progress 8 was +0.24 in 2023/24, indicating pupils did better than those nationally who started from the same place. Narrow the comparison to the schools whose pupils have similar backgrounds — a tougher field — and it places 4.2 out of 10 among them, against 5.9 out of 10 nationally.
Getting in
The published school roll is 902 pupils against a stated capacity of 900. These whole-school figures do not establish entry-year vacancies or the likelihood of an offer. Confirm entry-year availability and admissions criteria with the school or local authority.
Worth asking on a visit
How does the school support pupils to close the gap between their current attainment and the national median? What specific steps are taken to improve Progress 8 scores for students from similar backgrounds? How does the school manage class sizes when operating slightly over its designated capacity?
What Ofsted said about Our Lady's Catholic High School
Overview
The report describes a school where leaders have "high ambitions for all pupils" and expect them to succeed. Pupils feel they belong to a "warm school community" where they are welcomed as ‘one of ours’ and feel safe. The inspection judges the school’s overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour, personal development, and leadership as Good.
Strengths
- Pupils benefit from a "well-thought-out curriculum" and achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils.
- Staff maintain "high expectations with regards to pupils’ behaviour," resulting in a calm environment where learning is rarely disrupted.
- There is a "rich breadth of activities" on offer, including clubs and cross-curricular trips, which pupils enjoy enthusiastically.
- Leaders have improved the reading curriculum, placing a "clear emphasis on developing pupils’ reading and vocabulary knowledge."
- The governing body "knows the school well" and supports and challenges leaders to improve the quality of education.
Areas to improve
- In a small number of key stage 3 subjects, leaders have not considered the "building blocks of knowledge carefully enough," leading to gaps in what pupils know.
- Current assessment approaches in some subjects do not enable teachers to identify pupils’ misconceptions quickly enough, meaning some pupils do not remember their learning over time as well as they should.
Safeguarding
The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective," with leaders ensuring a strong culture where staff are vigilant and report concerns in a timely manner.
Results over time
Attainment 8, the years we hold.
| Year | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 50.8 |
| 2024/25 | 50.0 |
| 2025/26 | 54.9 |
| England | 44.9 |
Source: DfE Explore Education Statistics. “England” is the median of the 3,682 state schools in England we hold a 2025/26 figure for — a school-level median, not the DfE's pupil-weighted national figure.
Your offer chance
—Based on official applications/offers, distance and catchment where we have it. Bands only — never a percentage.
Sibling, faith, looked-after and other criteria can override distance. Always confirm with the school or local authority.
Next dates
- Secondary application deadline31 Oct 2026
- Secondary National Offer Day1 Mar 2027
- Secondary application deadline31 Oct 2027
- Secondary National Offer Day1 Mar 2028
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