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Great Sankey High School

Secondary · Warrington · WA5 3AA

Data updated

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Good

Earlier grade, confirmed by a later ungraded inspection

Ofsted's most recent (ungraded) visit confirmed the school remains Good. Ungraded inspections do not award a new grade.

Inspected 29 March 2023

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

2,051 pupils · 94% of 2,175 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
11.6% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
16.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
11.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
1.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
Sixth form
Yes
Website
http://www.greatsankey.org
URN
139152

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 278 families named it first for 325 Year 7 places, 0.86 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2024 entry went to 2.337 miles; distance decided places in 1 of the 4 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2023 to 2026. An ungraded Ofsted inspection on 29 March 2023 confirmed its earlier grade, Good. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

0.86 first-choice applications per place

325 places offered · 278 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. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2024 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 2.337 miles

measured in a straight line.

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

GCSE results (2024/2025)

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

Attainment 8 score
50.5
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
73.9%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
48.5%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.5
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.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) B-
35.4
England 35

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

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school50.5
Median of its 12 closest peers54.9
Warrington average47
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
Northampton School for BoysNorthampton · 110 miles awayOutstanding58.2
Bennett Memorial Diocesan SchoolTunbridge Wells · 199 miles awayOutstanding54
The Beaulieu Park SchoolChelmsford · 174 miles awayOutstanding57.1
Tudor Grange Academy, SolihullSolihull · 78 miles awayOutstanding58.7
Didcot Girls' SchoolDidcot · 137 miles awayOutstanding58.8
Gosforth AcademyNewcastle-upon-Tyne · 119 miles awayGood54.4
Ripley St Thomas Church of England AcademyLancaster · 45 miles awayOutstanding50.7
Thorpe St Andrew School and Sixth FormNorwich · 175 miles awayGood49.2
Charters SchoolAscot · 163 miles awayGood51
Cheadle Hulme High SchoolCheadle · 20 miles awayOutstanding60.7
Highdown School and Sixth Form CentreReading · 150 miles awayGood50.4
The Arthur Terry SchoolSutton Coldfield · 66 miles awayGood55.4

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 74% (Warrington 78%, England 59%) · Asian Chinese 12% (Warrington 5%, England 1%) · Asian Pakistani 2% (Warrington 1%, England 5%) · Any other White background 2% (Warrington 5%, England 7%) · Any other Asian background 2% (Warrington 1%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Warrington 1%, England 2%) · Black African 1% (Warrington 1%, England 5%) · Asian Indian 1% (Warrington 1%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Warrington 2%, England 3%) · Not recorded 1% (Warrington 1%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Warrington 1%, England 3%) · 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%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
17.2%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

8.77 suspensions per 100 pupils and 2 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Warrington: 11.50 suspensions and 0.13 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
16.8
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

87% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% moved to another state school · 7% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0.79% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

76.1% of teachers took sickness absence, 8.2 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 £54,396; 7% 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

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
97%
Continuing in education
91%
Apprenticeship
3%
Employment
3%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
47%
Apprenticeship
9%
Employment
31%
Any sustained destination
90%

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)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher49.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications4.5%18.1%
In managerial or professional work51.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways4.3%18.1%
Residents in very good health64.4%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier90.4%62.3%
Social housing3.1%17.1%
Privately rented6.5%20.5%
Detached houses68.6%22.9%
Flats2.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms51.6%21.1%
Households with no car or van2.8%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01035385 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£297,000365 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£232,000–£370,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (141)£400,000
Semi-detached (152)£278,500
Terraced (51)£230,000
Flat (21)£136,500

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (3.76 km, 2024 entry): 2,200 sales, median £256,000. 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
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
4an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
6an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
1an 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