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Brownedge St Mary's Catholic High School

Secondary · Preston · PR5 6PB

Data updated

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Good (2015)

Last grade Ofsted published, no newer grade exists

Ofsted graded this school Good in 2015. Every inspection since has been ungraded, and an ungraded inspection cannot change a grade. The most recent found “Standards maintained”. Ofsted's current data file lists only graded inspections from September 2019 onwards, so this grade has dropped out of it, but it is still the school's grade of record, and still on Ofsted's own report page. It is old, so weigh it against the more recent evidence on this page.

Inspected 4 November 2015

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

772 pupils · 96% of 800 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
22.8% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
5.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
11.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
1.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
http://www.st-maryshigh.lancs.sch.uk/
URN
119784

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 150 families named it first for 159 Year 7 places, 0.94 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 1.5 miles, the only Year 7 round we hold for it. The last grade Ofsted published for it is Good, from 2015. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7.8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.94 first-choice applications per place

159 places offered · 150 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

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 1.5 miles for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 1.5 miles

measured in a straight line.

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

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
46.1
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
64.8%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
40.7%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.1
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 school46.1
Median of its 12 closest peers45.4
Lancashire average46
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with 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
The Martin High School AnsteyLeicester · 95 miles awayGood44.6
Diss High SchoolDiss · 183 miles awayGood46.6
South Wigston High SchoolWigston · 102 miles awayNeeds attention34.5
The Vale AcademyBrigg · 90 miles awayGood51.6
The Garibaldi SchoolMansfield · 74 miles awayGood44.4
Doncaster UTCDoncaster · 64 miles awayStrong standard48.6
West Somerset CollegeMinehead · 178 miles awayNeeds attention41.2
Colonel Frank Seely AcademyNottingham · 81 miles awayGood47.9
Armthorpe AcademyDoncaster · 67 miles awayRequires improvement39.5
Christ's CollegeSunderland · 94 miles awayGood43.2
Hobart High SchoolNorwich · 191 miles awayGood46.1
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolBlackburn · 7 miles awayGood47

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 80% (Lancashire 74%, England 59%) · Any other White background 6% (Lancashire 4%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Lancashire 1%, England 3%) · Not recorded 2% (Lancashire 1%, England 2%) · Black African 2% (Lancashire 1%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Lancashire 1%, England 2%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Lancashire 2%, England 3%) · Any other Black background 1% (Lancashire 0%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Lancashire 1%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 1% (Lancashire 3%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Lancashire 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 1%

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)
7.8%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
19.6%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

5.92 suspensions per 100 pupils and 4 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Lancashire: 21.64 suspensions and 0.53 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
17.2
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

84% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% moved to another state school · 10% 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)

69.2% of teachers took sickness absence, 10.4 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 £55,094; 14.9% 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£7,704
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (77%) · premises 4% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (7%) · supplies and services 12% (10%) · educational supplies 6% (6%) · bought-in professional services 4% (2%) · catering 4% (3%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £691,112; in-year balance +£273,089

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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
88%
Continuing in education
77%
Apprenticeship
6%
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)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher21.2%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications22.3%18.1%
In managerial or professional work22.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways23.2%18.1%
Residents in very good health41.7%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier56.1%62.3%
Social housing26.8%17.1%
Privately rented17%20.5%
Detached houses13.5%22.9%
Flats9.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms9.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van26.4%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01025399 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£186,000474 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£148,000–£235,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (109)£298,000
Semi-detached (211)£190,000
Terraced (117)£143,500
Flat (37)£112,000

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 (2.41 km, 2026 entry): 1,390 sales, median £192,000. 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
5an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
6an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
36an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
16an 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