St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan

Ofsted's report card from its 3 March 2026 inspection grades St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield on 6 areas: 6 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils achieve consistently well across the curriculum."

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Attendance is a strength, sitting consistently above national figures across all pupil groups."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have set out a broad curriculum that is ambitious, carefully sequenced and built on a sophisticated understanding of how knowledge develops differently across subjects."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Leaders identify pupils' needs with precision."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders hold a precise understanding of the school's strengths and priorities."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have built a personal development and wellbeing programme that permeates the culture, the curriculum and the daily experience of pupils."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to refine the school's approach to quality assurance so that it enables them to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve the very best outcomes routinely over time".

From the headteacher's welcome: "Having received a Catholic education in Wigan myself, I know how incredibly important this is to shaping your entire future. Our staff and governors are totally committed to providing an education rooted in Gospel values and our joint aim has always been to inspire every pupil to want to make the world a better place."

In 2026, pupils at St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield averaged an Attainment 8 score of 50.4, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 45.8 in Wigan and 47 across England.

54% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 43% in Wigan and 47% in England.

That is up from 49.1 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.16: pupils made above 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 40.9, against 51.8 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 10.9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 24 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 258 families put St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield as their first choice and 453 named it as one of their preferences, for 233 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 34 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield are The Byrchall High School (under 0.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.8); Cansfield High School (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.7); Hope Academy (1.6 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 43.9); and Outwood Academy Haydock (1.9 miles, Attainment 8 42.9).

St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

198 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield (as of April 2026): 87% would recommend the school, 84% say their child is happy there and 63% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (87%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (63%).

Of the 239 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 90% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 31% to a further education college, 5% to an apprenticeship and 3% into work.

15.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 8.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The nearest railway station is Bryn Rail Station, about 1.2 miles away in a straight line.

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Park View (opposite), 110 metres away.

In 2024/25, St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield issued 79 suspensions, 6.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield are St Oswald's Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles), R L Hughes Primary School (0.6 miles), St Thomas CofE Primary School (0.6 miles) and St Wilfrids Catholic Primary School (1 mile). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.