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St John Fisher Catholic High School

Secondary · Wigan · WN6 7RN

Data updated

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Needs attention

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Needs attentionAchievement: Needs attentionAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Strong standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Expected standardEarly years: Not applicablePost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 10 March 2026 · report published 1 July 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

998 pupils · 100% of 1,000 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
11–16
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
33.4% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
14.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
15.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
sjfhs.co.uk
URN
106535

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 201 families named it first for 194 Year 7 places, 1.04 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 0.435 miles; distance decided places in 3 of the 20 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2007 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 10 March 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Needs attention. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8.8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.04 first-choice applications per place

194 places offered · 201 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 0.435 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.435 miles

measured in a straight line.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

192 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
41.3
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
55.2%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
34.9%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3.4
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school41.3
Median of its 12 closest peers43.8
Wigan average43.9
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
St Helena SchoolColchester · 187 miles awayGood46
King's Oak AcademyBristol · 145 miles awayGood42
King Harold Business & Enterprise AcademyWaltham Abbey · 171 miles awayNeeds attention36.5
Barclay AcademyStevenage · 153 miles awayGood49.5
Ormiston Sandwell Community AcademyOldbury · 77 miles awayGood42.3
Welling SchoolWelling · 185 miles awayNeeds attention34.7
Future Academies WatfordWatford · 160 miles awayGood39.8
Etone CollegeNuneaton · 87 miles awayExpected standard47.3
Oasis Academy SholingSouthampton · 191 miles awayRequires improvement43.3
The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts CollegeRugby · 99 miles awayGood44.4
Kents Hill Park all-through schoolMilton Keynes · 133 miles awayGood50.2
Lynn Grove AcademyGreat Yarmouth · 193 miles awayGood44.2

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 77% (Wigan 83%, England 59%) · Any other White background 9% (Wigan 3%, England 7%) · Black African 4% (Wigan 3%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 3% (Wigan 1%, England 4%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Wigan 1%, England 3%) · Any other Black background 2% (Wigan 1%, England 1%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Wigan 1%, England 3%) · Asian Pakistani 1% (Wigan 1%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Wigan 1%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Wigan 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 2%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
8.8%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
23.9%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

10.66 suspensions per 100 pupils and 5 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Wigan: 14.05 suspensions and 0.38 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
16.1
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

86% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 14% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained secondaries: 0.22% vacant, 0.42% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

58.6% of teachers took sickness absence, 9.7 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £55,806; 9.1% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£8,337
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 81% (77%) · premises 4% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 4% (7%) · supplies and services 11% (10%) · educational supplies 7% (6%) · bought-in professional services 2% (2%) · catering 1% (3%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve -£266,631; in-year balance -£158,463

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
93%
Continuing in education
84%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
5%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
6/10around the middle for England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
5/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher25.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications20.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work27.3%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways19.5%18.1%
Residents in very good health50.5%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier59.1%62.3%
Social housing8.2%17.1%
Privately rented32.3%20.5%
Detached houses15.8%22.9%
Flats8.8%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms9.4%21.1%
Households with no car or van15.2%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01006256 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£165,000449 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£136,000–£200,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (32)£249,000
Semi-detached (197)£185,000
Terraced (212)£145,000
Flat (8)£89,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (0.70 km, 2026 entry): 291 sales, median £165,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
4an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
15an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
6an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools