Priestnall School
Priestnall Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport, SK4 3HP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE LAURUS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Rachel Howarth
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Laurus Trust
- SEN provision
- Not Applicable
- Constituency
- Stockport
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,275
- Pupils on roll
- 1,312
- URN
- 149936
- Local authority
- Stockport
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01615497300
About this school
Priestnall School is a secondary academy in Stockport. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,312 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Priestnall School (URN 106133).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 250 | 247 |
| Attainment 8 score | 56.8 | 52.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.40 +0.23 to +0.58 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64.4% | 56.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 78.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 11.2% | 23.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 4.6 |
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 Priestnall 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 | Stockport average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 30.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.8 | 34.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.6 | 34.2 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 1,272 |
| 2024/25 | 1,285 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Priestnall School compares
Priestnall School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Stockport for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.6 | 8.5% | 14.8% | 1,312 | — |
| Burnage Academy for Boys | 46.6 | 8% | 53% | 1,021 | 0.7 miles |
| The Barlow RC High School | 49.8 | 7.8% | 41.6% | 930 | 0.9 miles |
| Parrs Wood High School | 48.1 | 8.3% | 32.9% | 1,786 | 1.1 miles |
| St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy | 41.2 | 10.8% | 45.1% | 666 | 1.2 miles |
| Levenshulme High School | 52.5 | 5.9% | 52.4% | 1,057 | 1.4 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)
- 14.79%
- English as an additional language
- 12.5%
- Overall absence
- 8.47%
- Persistent absence
- 20.92%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Burnage Academy for Boys0.7 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
The Barlow RC High School0.9 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
Parrs Wood High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Manchester
-
St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Stockport
-
Levenshulme High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Manchester
Other schools in Stockport
Priestnall School ranks 2nd of the 10 ranked secondary schools in Stockport.
- Bramhall High School Secondary
- Harrytown Catholic High School Secondary
- Hazel Grove High School Secondary
- Marple Hall School Secondary
- Poynton High School Secondary
- Reddish Vale High School Secondary
- St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Stockport Academy Secondary
- Stockport School Secondary
- Werneth School Secondary
- Freshfield Nursery School Nursery
- Hollywood Park Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What year groups does Priestnall School teach?
- Priestnall School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stockport.
- Who is the headteacher of Priestnall School?
- The headteacher of Priestnall School is Miss Rachel Howarth, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Priestnall School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Priestnall 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 big is Priestnall School?
- Priestnall School has 1,312 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Priestnall School full?
- Priestnall School has capacity for 1,275 pupils and 1,312 on roll (103%), 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 Priestnall School a faith school?
- No. Priestnall School has no designated religious character.
- Is Priestnall School a selective school?
- No. Priestnall School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Priestnall School?
- Priestnall School is part of THE LAURUS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Priestnall School have?
- The schools register lists Priestnall School's special educational needs provision as: Not Applicable. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Priestnall School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 56.8 in 2023/24 and 52.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Priestnall School rank locally?
- Priestnall School ranked 3rd of 13 secondary schools in Stockport for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Priestnall School's absence rate?
- Priestnall School's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Priestnall School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Priestnall 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.