Penwortham Priory Academy
Crow Hills Road, Penwortham, Preston, PR1 0JE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PENWORTHAM PRIORY ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr M Eastham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- South Ribble
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 745
- URN
- 138948
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01772320250
About this school
Penwortham Priory Academy is a secondary academy in Preston. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 745 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. 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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 172 | 152 | 155 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.3 | 40.5 | 43.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.18 -0.39 to +0.04 | -0.36 -0.59 to -0.13 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 35.5% | 38.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 58.6% | 60% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 17.1% | 14.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
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 Penwortham Priory Academy 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 | 45.3 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.5 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.2 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 797 |
| 2023/24 | 762 |
| 2024/25 | 744 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Penwortham Priory Academy compares
Penwortham Priory Academy ranked 48th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 50% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.2 | 8.7% | 26.1% | 745 | — |
| Penwortham Girls' High School | 52.9 | 5.9% | 17.1% | 799 | 0.6 miles |
| All Hallows Catholic High School | 55.6 | 5.3% | 9.9% | 911 | 0.7 miles |
| Ashton Community Science College | 44.6 | 6.8% | 37.4% | 837 | 1.5 miles |
| Hutton Church of England Grammar School | 50.1 | 6.6% | 14.2% | 807 | 1.5 miles |
| Christ The King Catholic High School | 35.9 | 9.2% | 46.4% | 446 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report26 March 2025
- 3 March 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.08%
- English as an additional language
- 5.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.74%
- Persistent absence
- 25%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Penwortham Girls' High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
All Hallows Catholic High School0.7 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Ashton Community Science College1.5 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Hutton Church of England Grammar School1.5 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Christ The King Catholic High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Preston
Other schools in Preston
Penwortham Priory Academy ranks 18th 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 year groups does Penwortham Priory Academy teach?
- Penwortham Priory Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Preston.
- Who is the headteacher of Penwortham Priory Academy?
- The headteacher of Penwortham Priory Academy is Mr M Eastham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Penwortham Priory Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Penwortham Priory Academy, 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 Penwortham Priory Academy?
- Penwortham Priory Academy has 745 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Penwortham Priory Academy full?
- Penwortham Priory Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 745 on roll (99%), 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 Penwortham Priory Academy a faith school?
- No. Penwortham Priory Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Penwortham Priory Academy a selective school?
- No. Penwortham Priory Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Penwortham Priory Academy?
- Penwortham Priory Academy is part of PENWORTHAM PRIORY ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Penwortham Priory Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.3 in 2022/23 and 43.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Penwortham Priory Academy rank locally?
- Penwortham Priory Academy ranked 48th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 50% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Penwortham Priory Academy's absence rate?
- Penwortham Priory Academy's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Penwortham Priory Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Penwortham Priory Academy'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.