Southlands High School
Clover Road, Chorley, PR7 2NJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MOSAIC LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Bousfield
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Chorley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 821
- URN
- 143794
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01257414455
About this school
Southlands High School is a secondary academy in Chorley. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 821 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Southlands 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 178 | 162 | 197 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.2 | 39.1 | 42.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.63 -0.85 to -0.42 | -0.49 -0.71 to -0.26 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 29.6% | 28.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 56% | 46.3% | 56.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 46.9% | 38.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.4 | 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 Southlands 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 40.2 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.1 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.1 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 953 |
| 2023/24 | 926 |
| 2024/25 | 931 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Southlands High School compares
Southlands High School ranked 52nd of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.1 | 9.9% | 28.6% | 821 | — |
| Holy Cross Catholic High School | 55 | 7% | 13% | 976 | 0.8 miles |
| Parklands High School | 44.4 | 6.7% | 28.5% | 1,102 | 1.0 miles |
| Albany Academy | 43.7 | 8.9% | 29.5% | 725 | 1.2 miles |
| St Michael's Church of England High School | 58.9 | 4.1% | 3.4% | 1,134 | 1.4 miles |
| Balshaw's Church of England High School | 52.3 | 5.1% | 13.6% | 921 | 3.5 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 28.57%
- English as an additional language
- 9.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.9%
- Persistent absence
- 29.82%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holy Cross Catholic High School0.8 miles
Secondary · Chorley
-
Parklands High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Chorley
-
Albany Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Chorley
-
St Michael's Church of England High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Chorley
-
Balshaw's Church of England High School3.5 miles
Secondary · Leyland
Other schools in Chorley
Southlands High School ranks 5th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Chorley.
- Albany Academy Secondary
- Holy Cross Catholic High School Secondary
- Parklands High School Secondary
- St Michael's Church of England High School Secondary
- Duke Street Nursery School Nursery
- Highfield Nursery School Nursery
- Abbey Village Primary School Primary
- Adlington Primary School Primary
- Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Balshaw Lane Community Primary School Primary
- Brindle St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Southlands High School teach?
- Southlands High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Chorley.
- Who is the headteacher of Southlands High School?
- The headteacher of Southlands High School is Mr Paul Bousfield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Southlands High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Southlands 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 Southlands High School?
- Southlands High School has 821 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Southlands High School full?
- Southlands High School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 821 on roll (78%), 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 Southlands High School a faith school?
- No. Southlands High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Southlands High School a selective school?
- No. Southlands High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Southlands High School part of an academy trust?
- Southlands High School is part of MOSAIC LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Southlands High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.2 in 2022/23 and 42.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Southlands High School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Southlands High School ranked 52nd of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 46% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Southlands High School's absence rate?
- Southlands High School's overall absence rate is 9.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Southlands High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Southlands 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 10 July 2026.