Atherton High School
Free schools · 561 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.3
Voluntary aided school
St John Fisher Catholic High School
- Pupils on roll
- 998of 1,000 places
- Free school meals
- 33.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 192
- Ofsted
- Report card, 10 March 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Needs attentionAchievement Needs attentionAttendance and behaviour Expected standardPersonal development and wellbeing Strong standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Expected standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
What the data says
St John Fisher Catholic High School has no sixth form. Of the 194 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 42% moved to a sixth form college, 40% to a further education college and 4% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 42% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Fine Art is unusually popular at GCSE: 40% of the year group took it, against 9% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 41.3 against 46.1 across England and 43.4 in Wigan, with 35% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Wigan and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | This school | Wigan | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 194 | 3,620 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 84% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 6% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 42% | 33% | 13% |
| — further education college | 40% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Wigan | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 41.3 | 43.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 39% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 16% | 30% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.40 | 3.73 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 30% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 36.2 | 33.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 43.5 | 47.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 16% | 8% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 190 | 99% | 88% | 14% | 22% | 66% |
| English Language | 190 | 99% | 89% | 13% | 20% | 58% |
| English Literature | 172 | 90% | 86% | 7% | 21% | 63% |
| Religious Studies | 169 | 88% | 31% | 11% | 32% | 52% |
| Combined Science | 159 | 83% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 46% |
| Fine Art | 77 | 40% | 9% | 14% | 28% | 70% |
| Geography | 73 | 38% | 41% | 12% | 25% | 52% |
| History | 67 | 35% | 41% | 34% | 26% | 84% |
| Sociology | 37 | 19% | 4% | 27% | 21% | 81% |
| Design and Technology | 34 | 18% | 11% | 0% | 23% | 50% |
| Computer Science | 32 | 17% | 13% | 6% | 30% | 47% |
| Spanish | 32 | 17% | 19% | 13% | 27% | 56% |
| Drama | 26 | 14% | 7% | 19% | 27% | 85% |
| Physics | 26 | 14% | 23% | 12% | 46% | 88% |
| Chemistry | 26 | 14% | 23% | 12% | 47% | 85% |
| Biology | 26 | 14% | 23% | 15% | 45% | 88% |
| Music | 20 | 10% | 5% | 0% | 33% | 50% |
| French | 19 | 10% | 18% | 11% | 29% | 53% |
| Statistics | 3 | 2% | 5% | — | 20% | — |
| Polish | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Studies | 65 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 19 | — | — |
Where St John Fisher Catholic High School is
Other secondary schools in Wigan are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Wigan’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in Wigan
Bedford High School
Community school · 1,111 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.5
Cansfield High School
Community school · 974 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.4
Dean Trust Rose Bridge
Academy sponsor led · 692 pupils
73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.7
Dean Trust Wigan
Academy sponsor led · 715 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.1
Fred Longworth High School
Academy converter · 1,283 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.9
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.