St Mary's Catholic High School
Royal Avenue, Leyland, PR25 1BS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Phil Thompson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- South Ribble
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 830
- Pupils on roll
- 813
- URN
- 119816
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01772421909
About this school
St Mary's Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Leyland. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 813 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 11 June 2025, 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 | 152 | 151 | 160 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.5 | 42.5 | 45.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.37 -0.60 to -0.14 | -0.11 -0.34 to +0.12 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 33.1% | 43.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 57% | 65.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 23.2% | 13.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.5 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.5 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 798 |
| 2023/24 | 811 |
| 2024/25 | 817 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic High School compares
St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 35th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45 | 7.2% | 21.3% | 813 | — |
| Academy@Worden | 43.2 | 6.9% | 33.7% | 660 | 0.6 miles |
| Wellfield Academy | 37.7 | 10.7% | 36.8% | 562 | 0.8 miles |
| Balshaw's Church of England High School | 52.3 | 5.1% | 13.6% | 921 | 1.0 miles |
| Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy | 59.3 | 4.9% | 8.6% | 958 | 2.9 miles |
| Lostock Hall Academy | 47.6 | 7.2% | 18.1% | 759 | 3.3 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)
- 21.3%
- English as an additional language
- 3.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.24%
- Persistent absence
- 18.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Academy@Worden0.6 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Wellfield Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Balshaw's Church of England High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Lostock Hall Academy3.3 miles
Secondary · Preston
Other schools in Leyland
St Mary's Catholic High School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Leyland.
- Academy@Worden Secondary
- Balshaw's Church of England High School Secondary
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy Secondary
- Wellfield Academy Secondary
- Bretherton Endowed Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Farington Moss St. Paul's C.E. Primary School Primary
- Farington Primary School Primary
- Lancaster Lane Primary and Pre-School Primary
- Lever House Primary School Primary
- Leyland Methodist Infant School Primary
- Leyland Methodist Junior School Primary
- Leyland St James Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Mary's Catholic High School teach?
- St Mary's Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Leyland.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic High School is Mr Phil Thompson, 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 813 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Mary's Catholic High School full?
- St Mary's Catholic High School has capacity for 830 pupils and 813 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 42.5 in 2022/23 and 45 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 Lancashire?
- St Mary's Catholic High School ranked 35th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 23% 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 7.2% 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 30 June 2026.