Penwortham Priory Academy, Preston

From the headteacher's welcome: "It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to write to you as Principal and welcome you to Penwortham Priory Academy. I have always believed that there are few jobs that are more important or rewarding as working in education."

In 2026, pupils at Penwortham Priory Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.2 in Lancashire and 47 across England.

50% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Lancashire and 47% in England.

That is up from 43.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.36: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 34.6, against 51.9 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 17.3 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 164 families put Penwortham Priory Academy as their first choice and 513 named it as one of their preferences, for 151 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 25 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Penwortham Priory Academy are Penwortham Girls' High School (0.6 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 55.4); All Hallows Catholic High School (0.7 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 53.6); Ashton Community Science College (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 47.6); and Hutton Church of England Grammar School (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 50.5).

Each of them had higher 2026 results than Penwortham Priory Academy.

Penwortham Priory Academy is run by its own single-school academy trust.

161 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Penwortham Priory Academy (as of September 2025): 89% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 77% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (93%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (77%).

Of the 152 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 78% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 45% to a further education college, 6% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

5.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (81%), Mixed (6%) and Asian (6%).

The nearest railway station is Preston Rail Station, about 1.5 miles away in a straight line.

2 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Priory Tech College (by), 100 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Penwortham Priory Academy stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Penwortham Priory Academy issued 139 suspensions, 18.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 6 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Penwortham Priory Academy are Penwortham Primary School (0.1 miles); Penwortham, St Teresa's Catholic Primary School (0.1 miles); Whitefield Primary School (0.5 miles); and Cop Lane Church of England Primary School, Penwortham (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.