The Priory School
Longden Road, Shrewsbury, SY3 9EE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE 3-18 EDUCATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Carolyn Knight
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The 3-18 Education Trust
- Constituency
- Shrewsbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 840
- Pupils on roll
- 852
- URN
- 138216
- Local authority
- Shropshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01743284000
About this school
The Priory School is a secondary academy in Shrewsbury. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 852 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
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
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- 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 | 167 | 167 | 167 |
| Attainment 8 score | 55.1 | 54.0 | 52.7 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.37 +0.15 to +0.59 | +0.38 +0.16 to +0.59 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 62% | 59.3% | 55.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 81% | 83.2% | 77.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 32.3% | 44.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
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 The Priory 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 | Shropshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55.1 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.7 | 34 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 849 |
| 2023/24 | 852 |
| 2024/25 | 856 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Priory School compares
The Priory School ranked 1st of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.7 | 6.7% | 13.2% | 852 | — |
| Meole Brace School | 44.6 | 7.5% | 19.8% | 1,316 | 0.3 miles |
| Belvidere School | 39.8 | 9.9% | 29% | 830 | 2.2 miles |
| Shrewsbury Academy | 33.2 | 8.6% | 38% | 817 | 3.1 miles |
| Mary Webb School and Science College | 43.5 | 9% | 21.3% | 632 | 5.9 miles |
| The Corbet School | 47.2 | 8.7% | 16.4% | 691 | 7.6 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)
- 13.2%
- English as an additional language
- 5.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.65%
- Persistent absence
- 16.47%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Meole Brace School0.3 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
Belvidere School2.2 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
Shrewsbury Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
Mary Webb School and Science College5.9 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
-
The Corbet School7.6 miles
Secondary · Shrewsbury
Other schools in Shrewsbury
The Priory School ranks 1st of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Shrewsbury.
- Belvidere School Secondary
- Mary Webb School and Science College Secondary
- Meole Brace School Secondary
- Shrewsbury Academy Secondary
- The Corbet School Secondary
- The Thomas Adams School Secondary
- Baschurch CofE Primary School Primary
- Belvidere Primary School Primary
- Bicton Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Bomere Heath Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bowbrook Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Priory School teach?
- The Priory School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Shrewsbury.
- Who is the principal of The Priory School?
- The principal of The Priory School is Mrs Carolyn Knight, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Priory School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Priory 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 The Priory School?
- The Priory School has 852 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Priory School full?
- The Priory School has capacity for 840 pupils and 852 on roll (101%), 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 The Priory School a faith school?
- No. The Priory School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Priory School a selective school?
- No. The Priory School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Priory School?
- The Priory School is part of THE 3-18 EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Priory School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 55.1 in 2022/23 and 52.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Priory School rank locally?
- The Priory School ranked 1st of 20 secondary schools in Shropshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Priory School's absence rate?
- The Priory School's overall absence rate is 6.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Priory School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Priory 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 1 July 2026.