Our Lady's Catholic High School
St Anthony's Drive, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 3SQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Richard Charnock
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lancaster
- Constituency
- Preston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 902
- URN
- 119779
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01772326900
About this school
Our Lady's Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Preston. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 902 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Our Lady'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
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 | 177 | 174 | 180 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.9 | 50.8 | 50.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.05 -0.26 to +0.16 | +0.24 +0.02 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 54% | 42.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 71.3% | 71.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 29% | 45.4% | 28.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
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 Our Lady'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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.9 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.8 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 900 |
| 2023/24 | 895 |
| 2024/25 | 902 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Our Lady's Catholic High School compares
Our Lady's Catholic High School ranked 21st of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50 | 5.9% | 18.3% | 902 | — |
| Fulwood Academy | 41.4 | 6.9% | 44.4% | 973 | 0.5 miles |
| Corpus Christi Catholic High School | 50.2 | 4.3% | 29.7% | 813 | 0.8 miles |
| Archbishop Temple Church of England High School | 55.4 | 6.6% | 12.3% | 891 | 0.9 miles |
| Ashton Community Science College | 44.6 | 6.8% | 37.4% | 837 | 1.3 miles |
| Moor Park High School and Sixth Form | 39.3 | 7.3% | 46.8% | 599 | 1.5 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)
- 18.29%
- English as an additional language
- 13.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.87%
- Persistent absence
- 12.66%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Fulwood Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Corpus Christi Catholic High School0.8 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Archbishop Temple Church of England High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Ashton Community Science College1.3 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Moor Park High School and Sixth Form1.5 miles
Secondary · Preston
Other schools in Preston
Our Lady's Catholic High School ranks 8th of the 22 ranked secondary schools in Preston.
- All Hallows Catholic High School Secondary
- Archbishop Temple Church of England High School Secondary
- Ashton Community Science College Secondary
- Broughton High School Secondary
- Brownedge St Mary's Catholic High School Secondary
- Carr Hill High School Secondary
- Christ The King Catholic High School Secondary
- Corpus Christi Catholic High School Secondary
- Eden Boys' School, Preston Secondary
- Fulwood Academy Secondary
- Garstang Community Academy Secondary
- Hutton Church of England Grammar School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Our Lady's Catholic High School teach?
- Our Lady's Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Preston.
- Who is the headteacher of Our Lady's Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of Our Lady's Catholic High School is Mr Richard Charnock, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Our Lady's Catholic High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Our Lady'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 Our Lady's Catholic High School?
- Our Lady's Catholic High School has 902 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Our Lady's Catholic High School full?
- Our Lady's Catholic High School has capacity for 900 pupils and 902 on roll (100%), so it is at or above 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 Our Lady's Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. Our Lady's Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Lancaster.
- Is Our Lady's Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. Our Lady's Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Our Lady's Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.9 in 2022/23 and 50 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Our Lady's Catholic High School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Our Lady's Catholic High School ranked 21st of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Our Lady's Catholic High School's absence rate?
- Our Lady's Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Our Lady's Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Our Lady'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 30 June 2026.