Atherton High School
Free schools · 561 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.3
Voluntary aided school
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield
- Pupils on roll
- 1,204of 1,250 places
- Free school meals
- 15.7%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 238
- Ofsted
- Report card, 3 March 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Strong standardAchievement Strong standardAttendance and behaviour Strong standardPersonal development and wellbeing Strong standardInclusion Strong standardLeadership and governance Strong standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
What the data says
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield has no sixth form. Of the 230 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 58% moved to a sixth form college, 29% to a further education college and 4% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 58% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 25% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.1 against 46.1 across England and 43.4 in Wigan, with 51% 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 | 230 | 3,620 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 96% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 89% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 2% | 6% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 58% | 33% | 13% |
| — further education college | 29% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | — | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 3% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Wigan | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 49.1 | 43.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 39% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 29% | 30% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.15 | 3.73 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 15% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 38.3 | 33.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 51.0 | 47.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 4% | 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 | 236 | 99% | 88% | 17% | 22% | 82% |
| English Language | 236 | 99% | 89% | 19% | 20% | 80% |
| English Literature | 233 | 98% | 86% | 24% | 21% | 79% |
| Religious Studies | 217 | 91% | 31% | 22% | 32% | 68% |
| Combined Science | 159 | 67% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 58% |
| Geography | 135 | 57% | 41% | 21% | 25% | 67% |
| Biology | 76 | 32% | 23% | 36% | 45% | 97% |
| Physics | 76 | 32% | 23% | 39% | 46% | 93% |
| History | 76 | 32% | 41% | 25% | 26% | 74% |
| Chemistry | 75 | 32% | 23% | 37% | 47% | 97% |
| Spanish | 61 | 26% | 19% | 16% | 27% | 79% |
| Art and Design | 60 | 25% | 7% | 37% | 24% | 95% |
| Computer Science | 54 | 23% | 13% | 26% | 30% | 74% |
| Design and Technology | 45 | 19% | 11% | 20% | 23% | 73% |
| French | 26 | 11% | 18% | 4% | 29% | 65% |
| Music | 23 | 10% | 5% | 30% | 33% | 61% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 19 | 8% | 8% | 21% | 21% | 58% |
| Physical Education | 17 | 7% | 11% | 29% | 24% | 94% |
| Photography | 16 | 7% | 6% | 38% | 19% | 94% |
| Polish | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Italian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 42 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 39 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 30 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 22 | — | — |
| Childcare Skills | 20 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 18 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 18 | — | — |
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.