Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy
Capenhurst Lane, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, CH65 7AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lorraine Henderson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Shrewsbury
- Sponsor
- The Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Academy Trust (HFNCAT)
- Constituency
- Ellesmere Port and Bromborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 988
- Pupils on roll
- 950
- URN
- 149631
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Telephone
- 01513552373
About this school
Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Ellesmere Port. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 950 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 161 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.5 | 36.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.47 -0.69 to -0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 20.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54.7% | 47.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38.5% | 35.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.2 |
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 Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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 | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.5 | 40.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.9 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 952 |
| 2024/25 | 969 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy compares
Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 16th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.9 | 11% | 37.8% | 950 | — |
| Ellesmere Port Church of England College | 39 | 10.3% | 47.4% | 777 | 0.5 miles |
| The Whitby High School | 38.9 | 11.1% | 28.2% | 1,398 | 0.5 miles |
| South Wirral High School | — | — | — | 1,019 | 3.9 miles |
| Upton-by-Chester High School | 48.8 | 6.5% | 17.2% | 1,728 | 4.3 miles |
| Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College | 33.2 | 14.6% | 47.4% | 651 | 4.7 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
-
Graded inspection report28 April 2026
- 23 June 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 37.83%
- English as an additional language
- 8.3%
- Overall absence
- 11.04%
- Persistent absence
- 32.86%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ellesmere Port Church of England College0.5 miles
Secondary · Ellesmere Port
-
The Whitby High School0.5 miles
Secondary · Ellesmere Port
-
South Wirral High School3.9 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Upton-by-Chester High School4.3 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College4.7 miles
Secondary · Chester
Other schools in Ellesmere Port
- Ellesmere Port Church of England College Secondary
- The Whitby High School Secondary
- Brookside Primary School Primary
- Cambridge Road Community Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Childer Thornton Primary School Primary
- Ellesmere Port Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- Little Sutton C of E Primary School Primary
- Meadow Primary School Primary
- Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School Primary
- Parklands Community Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Rivacre Valley Primary School Primary
- Rossmore School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy teach?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ellesmere Port.
- Who is the headteacher of Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is Mrs Lorraine Henderson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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 Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy has 950 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy full?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy has capacity for 988 pupils and 950 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.
- Is Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy a selective school?
- No. Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy is part of OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.5 in 2023/24 and 36.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy rank locally?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy ranked 16th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 30% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 11% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary 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 15 July 2026.