St Mary's Catholic High School
Manchester Road, Astley, Manchester, M29 7EE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Denise Brahms
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- Worsley and Eccles
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,569
- Pupils on roll
- 1,537
- URN
- 106538
- Local authority
- Wigan
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01942884144
About this school
St Mary's Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Manchester. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,537 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 October 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 249 | 244 | 253 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.3 | 46.4 | 44.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.34 -0.51 to -0.16 | -0.20 -0.38 to -0.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 45.5% | 37.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 66.8% | 63.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 24.2% | 20.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 |
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 St Mary's Catholic 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 | 46.3 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.4 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.2 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,561 |
| 2023/24 | 1,548 |
| 2024/25 | 1,561 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic High School compares
St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 11th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.2 | 8.7% | 20% | 1,537 | — |
| Bedford High School | 45.5 | 9% | 38.2% | 1,111 | 1.1 miles |
| Fred Longworth High School | 45.9 | 8% | 23.5% | 1,283 | 1.4 miles |
| Atherton High School | 39.3 | 8.9% | 47.2% | 561 | 2.1 miles |
| The Lowry Academy | 44.7 | 10% | 57.7% | 884 | 2.9 miles |
| Star Salford Academy | — | 10.4% | 61.2% | 389 | 2.9 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)
- 19.97%
- English as an additional language
- 10%
- Overall absence
- 8.67%
- Persistent absence
- 21.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bedford High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Leigh
-
Fred Longworth High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Atherton High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Atherton
-
The Lowry Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Star Salford Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Worsley
Other schools in Manchester
St Mary's Catholic High School ranks 40th of the 59 ranked secondary schools in Manchester.
- Audenshaw School Secondary
- Broadoak School Secondary
- Burnage Academy for Boys Secondary
- Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School Secondary
- Chorlton High School Secondary
- CHS South Secondary
- Co-op Academy Belle Vue Secondary
- Co-op Academy Failsworth Secondary
- Co-op Academy Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy North Manchester Secondary
- Co-op Academy Swinton Secondary
- Co-op Academy Walkden Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Catholic High School teach?
- St Mary's Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Manchester.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School is Denise Brahms, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Mary's Catholic High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's Catholic 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 St Mary's Catholic High School?
- St Mary's Catholic High School has 1,537 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School full?
- St Mary's Catholic High School has capacity for 1,569 pupils and 1,537 on roll (98%), 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 St Mary's Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. St Mary's Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have St Mary's Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.3 in 2022/23 and 44.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Mary's Catholic High School compare with other schools in Wigan?
- St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 11th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 53% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Mary's Catholic High School's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's Catholic 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.