Culcheth High School
Warrington Road, Culcheth, Warrington, WA3 5HH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Christopher Hunt
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Warrington North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,240
- Pupils on roll
- 1,164
- URN
- 111430
- Local authority
- Warrington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01925767587
About this school
Culcheth High School is a community secondary school in Warrington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,164 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 16 November 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 224 | 235 | 228 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.1 | 48.9 | 51.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.21 -0.40 to -0.02 | -0.15 -0.33 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 51.1% | 55.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 70.6% | 74.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 31.9% | 33.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
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 Culcheth 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 | Warrington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.1 | 43.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.9 | 43 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.1 | 41.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,181 |
| 2023/24 | 1,178 |
| 2024/25 | 1,168 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Culcheth High School compares
Culcheth High School ranked 4th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.1 | 9.1% | 18.8% | 1,164 | — |
| Lowton Church of England High School | 47.5 | 8.9% | 27.8% | 814 | 2.1 miles |
| Birchwood Community High School | 47.9 | 9.9% | 37.6% | 875 | 2.7 miles |
| Bedford High School | 45.5 | 9% | 38.2% | 1,111 | 2.9 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic High School | 44.2 | 8.7% | 20% | 1,537 | 3.4 miles |
| Irlam and Cadishead Academy | 43.6 | 8% | 40.1% | 844 | 3.4 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)
- 18.84%
- English as an additional language
- 2.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.05%
- Persistent absence
- 24.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lowton Church of England High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Birchwood Community High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Bedford High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Leigh
-
St Mary's Catholic High School3.4 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Irlam and Cadishead Academy3.4 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Warrington
Culcheth High School ranks 3rd of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Warrington.
- Beamont Collegiate Academy Secondary
- Birchwood Community High School Secondary
- Bridgewater High School Secondary
- Cardinal Newman Catholic High School Secondary
- Golborne High School Secondary
- Great Sankey High School Secondary
- King's Leadership Academy Warrington Secondary
- Lowton Church of England High School Secondary
- Padgate Academy Secondary
- Penketh High School Secondary
- Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Culcheth High School teach?
- Culcheth High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Warrington.
- Who is the headteacher of Culcheth High School?
- The headteacher of Culcheth High School is Mr Christopher Hunt, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Culcheth High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Culcheth 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 big is Culcheth High School?
- Culcheth High School has 1,164 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Culcheth High School full?
- Culcheth High School has capacity for 1,240 pupils and 1,164 on roll (94%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Culcheth High School a faith school?
- No. Culcheth High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Culcheth High School a selective school?
- No. Culcheth High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Culcheth High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.1 in 2022/23 and 51.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Culcheth High School rank locally?
- Culcheth High School ranked 4th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Culcheth High School's absence rate?
- Culcheth High School's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Culcheth High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Culcheth 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.