St Mary's Catholic High SchoolAtherton High School

Inspection, results, pupils and attendance side by side.

Summary of the comparison

St Mary's Catholic High School and Atherton High School are secondary schools.

  • St Mary's Catholic High School scores 56 out of 100 (grade C, average) and Atherton High School scores 54 out of 100 (grade D, below average). St Mary's Catholic High School is ahead on our composite score.

  • St Mary's Catholic High School was judged Good and Atherton High School was judged Good.

  • On GCSE Attainment 8, the latest published figures are 44.2 for St Mary's Catholic High School and 39.3 for Atherton High School.

  • GCSE Attainment 8 has fallen at St Mary's Catholic High School (47.4 in 2021-22, 44.2 in 2024-25) and has fallen at Atherton High School (42.5 in 2021-22, 39.3 in 2024-25).

Side-by-side comparison

St Mary's Catholic High School versus Atherton High School compared on inspection, results, pupils and attendance.
Measure ManchesterSt Mary's Catholic High SchoolAthertonAtherton High SchoolEngland average
Overview
Our scoreC56/100Stronger figureD54/100
Local ranking8th of 19 in Wigan Stronger figure9th of 19 in Wigan
InspectionOfsted: GoodOfsted: Good
School typeVoluntary aided school Free schools
PhaseSecondary Secondary
Age range11-18 11-16
GenderMixed Mixed
Pupils on roll1,561 547
Capacity1,569 550
LocationManchester, M29 7EE Atherton, M46 0AY
GCSE results
Attainment 844.2 Stronger figure39.3 46.0
Grade 5+ in English & maths37.9% Stronger figure25.8% 45.4%
Grade 4+ in English & maths63.2% Stronger figure51.7% 64.8%
Entering EBacc20.6% 38.2% Stronger figure40.5%
EBacc average point score3.68 Stronger figure3.48 4.09
Cohort253 89
A-level results
A-level entries89 Not reported
A-level average points30.1 Not reported35.0
A-level average gradeC Not reported
Best 3 A-levels points33.4 Not reported35.8
AAB+ incl. facilitating subjects20.0% Not reported17.5%
Pupils
Pupils in the census1,561 547
Free school meals (ever 6)20.0% 47.2%
English as an additional language10.0% 4.9%
SEN support9.9% 16.3%
SEN with an EHC plan2.1% 3.7%
Attendance
Overall absence8.7% Stronger figure8.9% 6.2%
Persistent absence21.4% Stronger figure26.1% 15.8%

marks the stronger figure on measures with a clear direction. Rows describing a school's intake, such as free school meals, English as an additional language and SEN, carry no marker: they describe who a school serves, not how well it serves them.

Historical trends

Each solid line is one school; the dashed line is the national average.

GCSE Attainment 8

GCSE Progress 8

Overall absence

Free school meal eligibility (ever 6)

Pupils on roll

Ethnicity over time

One panel per school: the largest groups across this comparison, one colour per group, on a shared scale.

St Mary's Catholic High School

Atherton High School

Full profiles: St Mary's Catholic High School · Atherton High School