Which school has the best GCSE results in Cheshire East?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Poynton High School tops the table in Cheshire East with 54.4, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Cheshire East schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Cheshire East show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Cheshire East GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

22 state secondary schools in Cheshire East ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc average point score and cohort size for each school against the England average. 1 school with no published results is listed at the end. 2 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 23 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Cheshire East ranked on Attainment 8

22 of 23 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Cheshire East ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1 , up 3 places since 2025	Poynton High School Stockport · Academy converter	54.4	16%	63%	82%	–	238
2 , down 1 place since 2025	Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College Sandbach · Academy converter	54.3	18%	62%	78%	–	218
3 , down 1 place since 2025	Knutsford Academy Knutsford · Academy converter	52.9	22%	63%	80%	–	214
4 , down 1 place since 2025	The Fallibroome Academy Macclesfield · Academy converter	51.7	13%	56%	74%	–	239
5 , up 1 place since 2025	Wilmslow High School Wilmslow · Community school	51.1	17%	52%	75%	–	356
6= , up 3 places since 2025	All Hallows Catholic College Macclesfield · Academy converter	50.7	14%	53%	79%	–	204
6= , up 1 place since 2025	Tytherington School Macclesfield · Academy converter	50.7	19%	54%	73%	–	233
8	Brine Leas School Nantwich · Academy converter	50.2	15%	54%	79%	–	222
9 , up 1 place since 2025	Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School Crewe · Academy converter	49.4	16%	48%	69%	–	226
10 , up 3 places since 2025	St Thomas More Catholic High School Crewe · Academy converter	49.0	17%	44%	69%	–	127
11 , down 6 places since 2025	Alsager School Stoke-on-Trent · Academy converter	48.6	10%	43%	67%	–	256
12 , up 2 places since 2025	Eaton Bank Academy Congleton · Academy converter	48.0	12%	40%	66%	–	166
13 , up 3 places since 2025	The Macclesfield Academy Macclesfield · Academy sponsor led	46.2	12%	39%	63%	–	113
14 , down 4 places since 2025	Sandbach School Sandbach · Free schools	45.9	12%	42%	66%	–	260
15 , up 3 places since 2025	Ruskin Community High School Crewe · Community school	45.2	10%	52%	68%	–	124
16 , down 4 places since 2025	Shavington Academy Shavington · Academy converter	44.2	9%	42%	64%	–	172
17 , down 2 places since 2025	Congleton High School Congleton · Academy converter	43.5	7%	34%	62%	–	195
18 , down 1 place since 2025	Middlewich High School Middlewich · Academy converter	41.3	6%	29%	54%	–	140
19	The Oaks Academy Crewe · Academy sponsor led	32.6	3%	15%	33%	–	140
20	Crewe Engineering and Design UTC Crewe · University technical college	31.6	2%	19%	41%	–	97
21	Sir William Stanier School Crewe · Academy sponsor led	27.4	2%	10%	25%	–	114
22	Cheshire Studio School Crewe · Studio schools · 2025 results (latest published)	24.0	–	0%	27%	1.68	22
–	Malbank School and Sixth Form College Nantwich · Academy converter · No published GCSE results	–	–	–	–	–	–

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Cheshire East with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Beech Hall School Macclesfield · Other independent school	34.6	32%	25
The King's School In Macclesfield Macclesfield · Other independent school	28.9	0%	144

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". EBacc APS is the average point score across the English Baccalaureate subjects, including pupils who did not enter them.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Cheshire East on our composite score

Cheshire East GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Cheshire East ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Cheshire East with published GCSE results

More about schools in Cheshire East

Cheshire East GCSE results: common questions