Bridgewater High School
Broomfields Road, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 3AE
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE CHALLENGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Keiron Powell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Challenge Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Warrington South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,560
- Pupils on roll
- 1,683
- URN
- 141598
- Local authority
- Warrington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01925263919
About this school
Bridgewater High School is a secondary academy in Warrington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,683 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bridgewater 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 | 315 | 316 | 327 |
| Attainment 8 score | 56.5 | 53.5 | 51.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.39 +0.23 to +0.55 | +0.20 +0.05 to +0.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 62% | 60.8% | 57.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 83% | 80.7% | 73.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 20% | 24.7% | 32.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
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 Bridgewater 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 | Warrington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56.5 | 43.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 53.5 | 43 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.8 | 41.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,609 |
| 2023/24 | 1,655 |
| 2024/25 | 1,674 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bridgewater High School compares
Bridgewater High School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.8 | 6.9% | 13.9% | 1,683 | — |
| Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School | 46.1 | 8.5% | 36.2% | 879 | 1.2 miles |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic High School | 41.9 | 9.4% | 30.5% | 808 | 1.9 miles |
| UTC Warrington | 23 | 17.8% | 46.5% | 278 | 2.2 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic High School | 51 | 6.2% | 17.7% | 1,214 | 2.7 miles |
| King's Leadership Academy Warrington | 56 | 4.1% | 15% | 804 | 3.1 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)
- 13.86%
- English as an additional language
- 11.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.89%
- Persistent absence
- 15.93%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic High School1.9 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
UTC Warrington2.2 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
St Gregory's Catholic High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
King's Leadership Academy Warrington3.1 miles
Secondary · Warrington
Other schools in Warrington
Bridgewater High School ranks 2nd of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Warrington.
- Beamont Collegiate Academy Secondary
- Birchwood Community High School Secondary
- Cardinal Newman Catholic High School Secondary
- Culcheth High School Secondary
- Golborne High School Secondary
- Great Sankey High School Secondary
- King's Leadership Academy Warrington Secondary
- Lowton Church of England High School Secondary
- Padgate Academy Secondary
- Penketh High School Secondary
- Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic High School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Bridgewater High School teach?
- Bridgewater High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Warrington.
- Who is the principal of Bridgewater High School?
- The principal of Bridgewater High School is Mr Keiron Powell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bridgewater High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bridgewater 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 Bridgewater High School?
- Bridgewater High School has 1,683 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bridgewater High School full?
- Bridgewater High School has capacity for 1,560 pupils and 1,683 on roll (108%), 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 Bridgewater High School a faith school?
- No. Bridgewater High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Bridgewater High School a selective school?
- No. Bridgewater High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Bridgewater High School part of an academy trust?
- Bridgewater High School is part of THE CHALLENGE 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 Bridgewater High School have?
- The schools register lists Bridgewater High School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Bridgewater High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 56.5 in 2022/23 and 51.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bridgewater High School compare with other schools in Warrington?
- Bridgewater High School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 27% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bridgewater High School's absence rate?
- Bridgewater High School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bridgewater High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bridgewater 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 1 July 2026.