Penketh High School
Heath Road, Penketh, Warrington, WA5 2BY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE CHALLENGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr John Carlin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Challenge Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Warrington South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,058
- URN
- 145157
- Local authority
- Warrington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01925722298
About this school
Penketh High School is a secondary academy in Warrington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,058 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Penketh 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. 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 | 150 | 161 | 159 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.2 | 45.5 | 46.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.41 -0.65 to -0.17 | -0.22 -0.45 to +0.01 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 44.1% | 47.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 67% | 63.4% | 64.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 74% | 69.6% | 67.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 |
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 Penketh 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 | 45.2 | 43.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.5 | 43 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.5 | 41.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 895 |
| 2023/24 | 966 |
| 2024/25 | 1,023 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Penketh High School compares
Penketh High School ranked 8th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.5 | 7.7% | 28.9% | 1,058 | — |
| Great Sankey High School | 50.5 | 7.2% | 11.5% | 2,051 | 1.0 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic High School | 51 | 6.2% | 17.7% | 1,214 | 1.1 miles |
| UTC Warrington | 23 | 17.8% | 46.5% | 278 | 2.2 miles |
| Beamont Collegiate Academy | 45.8 | 9.4% | 44% | 890 | 2.8 miles |
| Sandymoor Ormiston Academy | 44.4 | 9.1% | 27.9% | 631 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report21 May 2025
- 25 February 2020
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 28.93%
- English as an additional language
- 15.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.74%
- Persistent absence
- 19.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Great Sankey High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
St Gregory's Catholic High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
UTC Warrington2.2 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Beamont Collegiate Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Sandymoor Ormiston Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
Other schools in Warrington
Penketh High School ranks 9th of the 14 ranked secondary schools in Warrington.
- Beamont Collegiate Academy Secondary
- Birchwood Community High School Secondary
- Bridgewater 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
- Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic High School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Penketh High School teach?
- Penketh High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Warrington.
- Who is the headteacher of Penketh High School?
- The headteacher of Penketh High School is Mr John Carlin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Penketh High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Penketh 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 Penketh High School?
- Penketh High School has 1,058 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Penketh High School full?
- Penketh High School has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,058 on roll (88%), 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 Penketh High School a faith school?
- No. Penketh High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Penketh High School a selective school?
- No. Penketh High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Penketh High School part of an academy trust?
- Penketh 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 Penketh High School have?
- The schools register lists Penketh High School's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Penketh High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.2 in 2022/23 and 46.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Penketh High School compare with other schools in Warrington?
- Penketh High School ranked 8th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Penketh High School's absence rate?
- Penketh High School's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Penketh High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Penketh 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.