The Byrchall High School
Warrington Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 9PQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MAKERFIELD ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Philippe Paul
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Makerfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,216
- Pupils on roll
- 1,138
- URN
- 138699
- Local authority
- Wigan
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01942728221
About this school
The Byrchall High School is a secondary academy in Wigan. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,138 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Byrchall 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. 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
- 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 | 168 | 250 | 187 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.1 | 43.4 | 41.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.32 -0.53 to -0.11 | -0.40 -0.57 to -0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 42.8% | 39% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 63.2% | 56.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 55% | 13.2% | 11.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
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 The Byrchall 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 | 45.1 | 36.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.4 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.3 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,001 |
| 2023/24 | 1,058 |
| 2024/25 | 1,075 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Byrchall High School compares
The Byrchall High School ranked 12th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.3 | 9.4% | 36.8% | 1,138 | — |
| St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield | 49.1 | 7% | 13.7% | 1,204 | 0.1 miles |
| Cansfield High School | 44.4 | 7% | 27.1% | 974 | 0.9 miles |
| Hope Academy | 43.8 | 9.2% | 28.8% | 1,235 | 1.5 miles |
| Outwood Academy Haydock | 41.2 | 8.9% | 39.4% | 791 | 1.9 miles |
| Golborne High School | 50.1 | 7.9% | 23.8% | 1,144 | 2.2 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)
- 36.84%
- English as an additional language
- 8.4%
- Overall absence
- 9.41%
- Persistent absence
- 25.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield0.1 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
Cansfield High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Wigan
-
Hope Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Newton-le-Willows
-
Outwood Academy Haydock1.9 miles
Secondary · St. Helens
-
Golborne High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Warrington
Other schools in Wigan
The Byrchall High School ranks 8th of the 13 ranked secondary schools in Wigan.
- Cansfield High School Secondary
- Dean Trust Rose Bridge Secondary
- Dean Trust Wigan Secondary
- Hawkley Hall High School Secondary
- Outwood Academy Hindley Secondary
- Shevington High School Secondary
- St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield Secondary
- St John Fisher Catholic High School Secondary
- St Peter's Catholic High School Secondary
- Standish Community High School Secondary
- The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College Secondary
- Up Holland High School Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
- Capacity changed from 1175 to 1216 recorded 15 Jul 2026
Common questions
- What ages does The Byrchall High School teach?
- The Byrchall High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Wigan.
- Who is the headteacher of The Byrchall High School?
- The headteacher of The Byrchall High School is Mr Philippe Paul, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Byrchall High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Byrchall 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 The Byrchall High School?
- The Byrchall High School has 1,138 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Byrchall High School full?
- The Byrchall High School has capacity for 1,216 pupils and 1,138 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 The Byrchall High School a faith school?
- No. The Byrchall High School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Byrchall High School a selective school?
- No. The Byrchall High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Byrchall High School part of an academy trust?
- The Byrchall High School is part of MAKERFIELD ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Byrchall High School have?
- The schools register lists The Byrchall High School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Byrchall High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.1 in 2022/23 and 41.3 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 Byrchall High School compare with other schools in Wigan?
- The Byrchall High School ranked 12th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% 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 Byrchall High School's absence rate?
- The Byrchall High School's overall absence rate is 9.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Byrchall High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Byrchall 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 15 July 2026.