St James' Catholic High School

St James' Catholic High School is a smaller-than-average Roman Catholic secondary school in Cheadle Hulme. This full section 5 inspection found the school performing at a strong standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Leaders have built a calm, inclusive community where pupils feel happy, safe and a strong sense of belonging; behaviour is good, attendance is above national averages, and pupils are generally well prepared for their next steps. Personal development and careers education are particular strengths, with a broad enrichment offer, strong mental health and wellbeing support, and effective external partnerships. The curriculum is ambitious and well planned, teaching is typically delivered well, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified and supported effectively. Most pupils achieve well in English and mathematics, with above-average GCSE outcomes and above-average Attainment 8. Leadership and governance are also secure: leaders and governors share a clear vision, staff morale is high, and achievement has improved in subjects such as science, languages and humanities. However, the school is not uniformly strong across all areas. The gap between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils nationally has widened over the past year, and achievement remains less positive in a small number of subjects. Support for writing is less well developed than other aspects of the curriculum. The next steps rightly focus on making disadvantaged-pupil strategies effective, improving attendance rapidly for all pupils including those with SEND, and quickly identifying and addressing gaps in writing across all year groups. Overall, this is a school with many strengths, a positive culture and clear priorities for further improvement.

Strengths

• Ambitious personal development programme with a strong focus on mental health, resilience and British values.
• Careers education is a significant strength, with strong external partnerships and tailored vocational pathways.
• Pupils feel happy, safe and a strong sense of belonging in the Catholic school community.
• Calm, orderly environment with high expectations, respectful behaviour and rare bullying dealt with quickly.
• Attendance is above the national average and persistent absence is below the national average.
• An ambitious, well-planned curriculum is in place, supported by robust quality assurance and improving teaching consistency.
• Teachers use retrieval practice and incisive questioning so gaps in knowledge are quickly closed.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly and well supported to access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
• Leaders and governors have a united vision, prioritise the right areas and have raised achievement in science, languages and humanities.
• Staff morale is high, and leaders consider staff wellbeing and workload.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils nationally has widened over the past year.
• Achievement is less positive in a small number of subjects.
• Support for pupils' writing skills is less well developed than other aspects of the curriculum.
• Leaders need to ensure strategies to improve attendance rapidly lead to high attendance for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Leaders need to ensure strategies to close attainment gaps for disadvantaged pupils are effective.
• Gaps in knowledge and skills in writing need to be quickly identified and addressed for all pupils in all year groups.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St James' Catholic High School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 5.3% of pupils at St James' Catholic High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St James' Catholic High School had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 9.3% of pupils at St James' Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St James' Catholic High School received £7,958 and spent £7,991 for each of its 824 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £529,000 (£642 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Cheadle · Stockport local authority: places and applications

What is St James' Catholic High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St James' Catholic High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was St James' Catholic High School last inspected by Ofsted?

St James' Catholic High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does St James' Catholic High School have?

St James' Catholic High School has 824 pupils on roll.

What age range does St James' Catholic High School cover?

St James' Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St James' Catholic High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.4, and 52% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St James' Catholic High School?

St James' Catholic High School is at St James Way, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 6PZ.