The Catholic High School, Chester
Old Wrexham Road, Handbridge, Chester, CH4 7HS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- THE CHESTER CATHOLIC ACADEMIES PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs CATHRYN MCKEAGNEY
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Shrewsbury
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Chester South and Eddisbury
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,117
- Pupils on roll
- 797
- URN
- 139343
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01244952788
About this school
The Catholic High School, Chester is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Chester. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 797 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Catholic High School, Chester, 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 151 | 135 | 119 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.2 | 44.3 | 46.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.50 -0.78 to -0.22 | -0.08 -0.39 to +0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 34.8% | 44.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 62.2% | 63.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 11.9% | 15.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
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 Catholic High School, Chester has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.2 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.3 | 40.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.7 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 816 |
| 2023/24 | 806 |
| 2024/25 | 808 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Catholic High School, Chester compares
The Catholic High School, Chester ranked 11th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.7 | 9.1% | 21.5% | 797 | — |
| Queen's Park High School | 44.2 | 9.2% | 29.3% | 792 | 0.5 miles |
| Chester International School | 34.5 | 15.5% | 33.1% | 229 | 0.7 miles |
| The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School | 53.8 | 6.8% | 17.4% | 1,253 | 1.2 miles |
| Christleton High School | 54.8 | 6.5% | 11.5% | 1,382 | 2.5 miles |
| Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College | 33.2 | 14.6% | 47.4% | 651 | 2.5 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.54%
- English as an additional language
- 19.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.1%
- Persistent absence
- 25.86%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Queen's Park High School0.5 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Chester International School0.7 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Christleton High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College2.5 miles
Secondary · Chester
Other schools in Chester
The Catholic High School, Chester ranks 4th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Chester.
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College Secondary
- Chester International School Secondary
- Christleton High School Secondary
- Queen's Park High School Secondary
- The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School Secondary
- Upton-by-Chester High School Secondary
- Acresfield Academy Primary
- Ashton Hayes Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Belgrave Primary School Primary
- Boughton Heath Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Catholic High School, Chester teach?
- The Catholic High School, Chester teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chester.
- Who is the headteacher of The Catholic High School, Chester?
- The headteacher of The Catholic High School, Chester is Mrs CATHRYN MCKEAGNEY, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Catholic High School, Chester been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Catholic High School, Chester, 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 Catholic High School, Chester?
- The Catholic High School, Chester has 797 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Catholic High School, Chester full?
- The Catholic High School, Chester has capacity for 1,117 pupils and 797 on roll (71%), 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 Catholic High School, Chester a faith school?
- Yes. The Catholic High School, Chester is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.
- Is The Catholic High School, Chester a selective school?
- No. The Catholic High School, Chester is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Catholic High School, Chester part of an academy trust?
- The Catholic High School, Chester is part of THE CHESTER CATHOLIC ACADEMIES PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Catholic High School, Chester have?
- The schools register lists The Catholic High School, Chester's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Catholic High School, Chester's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.2 in 2022/23 and 46.7 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 Catholic High School, Chester compare with other schools in Cheshire West and Chester?
- The Catholic High School, Chester ranked 11th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% 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 Catholic High School, Chester's absence rate?
- The Catholic High School, Chester's overall absence rate is 9.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Catholic High School, Chester's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Catholic High School, Chester'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.