Padgate Academy
Insall Road, Warrington, WA2 0LN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE CHALLENGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Adam McMillan
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Challenge Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Warrington North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 661
- URN
- 146765
- Local authority
- Warrington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01925822632
About this school
Padgate Academy is a secondary academy in Warrington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 661 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
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 83 | 127 | 112 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.8 | 34.7 | 39.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.23 -0.55 to +0.08 | -0.66 -0.92 to -0.40 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 30% | 22.8% | 29.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 38.6% | 57.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 28% | 56.7% | 41.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
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 Padgate 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 | Warrington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.8 | 43.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.7 | 43 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.4 | 41.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 577 |
| 2023/24 | 630 |
| 2024/25 | 642 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Padgate Academy compares
Padgate Academy ranked 12th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.4 | 8% | 50.6% | 661 | — |
| King's Leadership Academy Warrington | 56 | 4.1% | 15% | 804 | 1.0 miles |
| Beamont Collegiate Academy | 45.8 | 9.4% | 44% | 890 | 1.1 miles |
| Birchwood Community High School | 47.9 | 9.9% | 37.6% | 875 | 1.3 miles |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic High School | 41.9 | 9.4% | 30.5% | 808 | 1.5 miles |
| UTC Warrington | 23 | 17.8% | 46.5% | 278 | 1.9 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)
- 50.62%
- English as an additional language
- 25.2%
- Overall absence
- 8.02%
- Persistent absence
- 25.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King's Leadership Academy Warrington1.0 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Beamont Collegiate Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Birchwood Community High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic High School1.5 miles
Secondary · Warrington
-
UTC Warrington1.9 miles
Secondary · Warrington
Other schools in Warrington
Padgate Academy ranks 13th 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
- Penketh High School Secondary
- Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School Secondary
- St Gregory's Catholic High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Padgate Academy teach?
- Padgate Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Warrington.
- Who is the headteacher of Padgate Academy?
- The headteacher of Padgate Academy is Mr Adam McMillan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Padgate Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Padgate 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 Padgate Academy?
- Padgate Academy has 661 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Padgate Academy full?
- Padgate Academy has capacity for 750 pupils and 661 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 Padgate Academy a faith school?
- No. Padgate Academy has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Padgate Academy?
- Padgate Academy 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 Padgate Academy have?
- The schools register lists Padgate Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Padgate Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.8 in 2022/23 and 39.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Padgate Academy rank locally?
- Padgate Academy ranked 12th of 13 secondary schools in Warrington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Padgate Academy's absence rate?
- Padgate Academy's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Padgate Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Padgate 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 10 July 2026.