Cansfield High School
Old Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 9TP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Daniels
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Makerfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,012
- Pupils on roll
- 974
- URN
- 106521
- Local authority
- Wigan
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01942727391
About this school
Cansfield High School is a community secondary school in Wigan. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 974 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Cansfield High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 184 | 195 | 215 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.2 | 41.5 | 44.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.28 -0.48 to -0.07 | -0.55 -0.75 to -0.35 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 31.8% | 40.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 54.9% | 63.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 48% | 49.7% | 40% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Cansfield High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Wigan average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.2 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.5 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.4 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,040 |
| 2023/24 | 1,055 |
| 2024/25 | 1,036 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cansfield High School compares
Cansfield High School ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.4 | 7% | 27.1% | 974 | — |
| St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield | 49.1 | 7% | 13.7% | 1,204 | 0.8 miles |
| The Byrchall High School | 41.3 | 9.4% | 36.8% | 1,138 | 0.9 miles |
| Hawkley Hall High School | 40.4 | 9.2% | 24.9% | 1,170 | 2.1 miles |
| Outwood Academy Haydock | 41.2 | 8.9% | 39.4% | 791 | 2.3 miles |
| Hope Academy | 43.8 | 9.2% | 28.8% | 1,235 | 2.3 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.12%
- English as an additional language
- 3.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.97%
- Persistent absence
- 18.87%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield0.8 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
The Byrchall High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
Hawkley Hall High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
Outwood Academy Haydock2.3 miles
Secondary · St. Helens
-
Hope Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Newton-le-Willows
Other schools in Wigan
Cansfield High School ranks 7th of the 13 ranked secondary schools in Wigan.
- Dean Trust Rose Bridge Secondary
- Dean Trust Wigan Secondary
- Hawkley Hall High School Secondary
- Outwood Academy Hindley Secondary
- Shevington High School Secondary
- St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield Secondary
- St John Fisher Catholic High School Secondary
- St Peter's Catholic High School Secondary
- Standish Community High School Secondary
- The Byrchall High School Secondary
- The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College Secondary
- Up Holland High School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Cansfield High School teach?
- Cansfield High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Wigan.
- Who is the headteacher of Cansfield High School?
- The headteacher of Cansfield High School is Mrs Nicola Daniels, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Cansfield High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cansfield High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Cansfield High School?
- Cansfield High School has 974 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Cansfield High School full?
- Cansfield High School has capacity for 1,012 pupils and 974 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Cansfield High School a faith school?
- No. Cansfield High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Cansfield High School a selective school?
- No. Cansfield High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Cansfield High School have?
- The schools register lists Cansfield High School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Cansfield High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.2 in 2022/23 and 44.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cansfield High School compare with other schools in Wigan?
- Cansfield High School ranked 10th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 55% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cansfield High School's absence rate?
- Cansfield High School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cansfield High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cansfield High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.