St Michael's Catholic School
Daws Hill Lane, High Wycombe, HP11 1PW
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST THOMAS CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Louise Baker
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Northampton
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Wycombe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 2,220
- Pupils on roll
- 2,414
- URN
- 149612
- Local authority
- Buckinghamshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01494535196
About this school
St Michael's Catholic School is a Roman Catholic all-through academy in High Wycombe. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 2,414 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Michael's Catholic 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
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
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 78% | 68% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 15% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 85% | 85% |
| Expected standard in maths | 93% | 80% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 80% | 85% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 108.0 | 107.0 |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 294 | 332 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.3 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.33 +0.16 to +0.50 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49.3% | 46.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70.1% | 67.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38.4% | 28% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.2 |
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 St Michael's Catholic 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 | Buckinghamshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 59.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 78% | 61.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 68% | 63.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Buckinghamshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 47.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.3 | 49.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 46.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 2,201 |
| 2024/25 | 2,355 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Michael's Catholic School compares
St Michael's Catholic School ranked 19th of 36 secondary schools in Buckinghamshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% 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 | 49.1 | 6.8% | 17.3% | 2,414 | — |
| Grove Academy | 41.1 | 9.7% | 31.6% | 990 | 10.0 miles |
| The Piggott School | 61.9 | 6.5% | 6.3% | 1,945 | 10.1 miles |
| Wycombe High School | 73.9 | 5.5% | 8% | 1,371 | 0.3 miles |
| John Hampden Grammar School | 72.3 | 5.7% | 4.7% | 1,281 | 0.4 miles |
| Abbey View Primary Academy | — | 4.3% | 20.3% | 251 | 0.5 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)
- 17.3%
- English as an additional language
- 35.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.83%
- Persistent absence
- 18.39%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Grove Academy10.0 miles
All-through · Slough
-
The Piggott School10.1 miles
All-through · Reading
-
Wycombe High School0.3 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
John Hampden Grammar School0.4 miles
Secondary · High Wycombe
-
Abbey View Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · High Wycombe
Other schools in High Wycombe
St Michael's Catholic School ranks 15th of the 36 ranked primary schools in High Wycombe, and St Michael's Catholic School ranks 5th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in High Wycombe.
- Bowerdean Nursery School Nursery
- Abbey View Primary Academy Primary
- Ash Hill Primary School Primary
- Ash Hill Primary School Primary
- Beechview Academy Primary
- Bledlow Ridge School Primary
- Booker Hill Primary School & Nursery Primary
- Cadmore End CofE School Primary
- Carrington Infant School Primary
- Carrington Junior School Primary
- Castlefield School Primary
- Cedar Park School & Nursery Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St Michael's Catholic School teach?
- St Michael's Catholic School teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is an all-through school in High Wycombe.
- Who is the headteacher of St Michael's Catholic School?
- The headteacher of St Michael's Catholic School is Mrs Louise Baker, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Michael's Catholic School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Michael's Catholic 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 St Michael's Catholic School?
- St Michael's Catholic School has 2,414 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is St Michael's Catholic School full?
- St Michael's Catholic School has capacity for 2,220 pupils and 2,414 on roll (109%), 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 St Michael's Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. St Michael's Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Northampton.
- Is St Michael's Catholic School a selective school?
- No. St Michael's Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does St Michael's Catholic School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St Michael's Catholic School as having nursery classes.
- Is St Michael's Catholic School part of an academy trust?
- St Michael's Catholic School is part of ST THOMAS CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Michael's Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 78% in 2023/24 and 68% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Michael's Catholic School compare with other schools in Buckinghamshire?
- St Michael's Catholic School ranked 19th of 36 secondary schools in Buckinghamshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% 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 St Michael's Catholic School's absence rate?
- St Michael's Catholic School's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Michael's Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Michael's Catholic 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.