Which school has the best GCSE results in Wigan?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Standish Community High School tops the table in Wigan with 51.9, 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 Wigan 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 Wigan 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.

Wigan GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

19 state secondary schools in Wigan 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, cohort size for each school against the England average.

Local Authority 19 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Wigan ranked on Attainment 8

19 of 19 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Wigan 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 2 places since 2025	Standish Community High School Wigan · Academy converter	51.9	18%	55%	77%	–	254
2= , up 3 places since 2025	Shevington High School Wigan · Community school	50.4	11%	46%	69%	–	170
2= , up 2 places since 2025	St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield Wigan · Voluntary aided school	50.4	11%	54%	76%	–	237
4= , up 5 places since 2025	Bedford High School Leigh · Community school	49.2	18%	49%	65%	–	203
4= , up 2 places since 2025	Lowton Church of England High School Warrington · Foundation school	49.2	12%	40%	65%	–	159
4= , down 3 places since 2025	St Peter's Catholic High School Wigan · Voluntary aided school	49.2	11%	47%	75%	–	199
7	Fred Longworth High School Manchester · Academy converter	47.9	12%	50%	68%	–	247
8 , up 3 places since 2025	St Mary's Catholic High School Manchester · Voluntary aided school	47.1	13%	46%	70%	–	253
9 , up 8 places since 2025	Atherton High School Atherton · Free schools	46.2	10%	38%	64%	–	102
10 , up 2 places since 2025	St John Fisher Catholic High School Wigan · Voluntary aided school	45.5	8%	34%	60%	–	200
11 , down 3 places since 2025	The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College Wigan · Voluntary aided school	45.2	10%	45%	66%	–	239
12 , down 10 places since 2025	Golborne High School Warrington · Foundation school	45.1	10%	48%	64%	–	227
13 , up 5 places since 2025	The Westleigh School Leigh · Academy sponsor led	45.0	12%	43%	63%	–	180
14 , up 1 place since 2025	Outwood Academy Hindley Wigan · Academy sponsor led	44.3	9%	43%	67%	–	180
15 , down 3 places since 2025	The Byrchall High School Wigan · Academy converter	42.8	13%	38%	57%	–	202
16 , down 2 places since 2025	Hawkley Hall High School Wigan · Academy converter	41.9	8%	46%	63%	–	238
17 , down 7 places since 2025	Cansfield High School Wigan · Community school	41.7	3%	36%	59%	–	204
18 , down 2 places since 2025	Dean Trust Rose Bridge Wigan · Academy sponsor led	38.9	5%	34%	50%	–	123
19	Dean Trust Wigan Wigan · Academy sponsor led	37.5	3%	25%	47%	–	139

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.

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". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

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 Wigan on our composite score

Wigan GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Wigan ranked on Attainment 8

More about schools in Wigan

Wigan GCSE results: common questions