Lostock High School

Lostock High School is a smaller-than-average secondary school in a deprived area with a much higher-than-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans and a specially resourced provision for 26 autistic pupils. The school roll has almost doubled since its last inspection, and many pupils arrive from other countries. Safeguarding standards are met. Overall, Ofsted judges the school to be at the expected standard, with personal development and wellbeing at expected standard, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance all require attention. There are notable strengths in pastoral care and inclusion for specific groups. Pupils in the resourced provision, those new to English, and looked-after pupils are well supported; the personal development programme is thoughtfully designed; careers guidance and wider opportunities are comprehensive; relationships are warm and the school is generally calm. However, pupils' experiences and outcomes are uneven. Some groups have significant gaps in knowledge, reading and handwriting difficulties are not consistently addressed, and attendance remains well below national averages, with high persistent absence among disadvantaged and SEND pupils. Teaching varies across subjects and lessons, assessment follow-up is weak, and support for pupils with SEND is not routinely well matched. Behaviour is generally positive, but a minority's conduct during social times and inconsistent application of the behaviour policy remain issues. Leadership has made some successful improvements, including a sharp fall in suspensions, but improvement work in attendance and teaching quality has stalled or not been evaluated rigorously enough. The inspection identifies key next steps: replicate the rigour used for pupils at the highest levels of need across the whole school, ensure professional learning leads to consistently effective teaching, improve attendance especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils, and strengthen evaluation of improvement strategies. Staffing turbulence has hindered progress, and some staff feel the professional culture could be better. Governance has been strengthened and provides suitable challenge and support. The school has clear moral purpose and some early signs of improvement, but inconsistencies remain in the quality of education for many pupils.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with pupils kept safe and staff caring deeply for their welfare.
• The personal development programme is thoughtfully designed around pupils' diverse backgrounds and promotes tolerance and mutual understanding.
• Pastoral and welfare support is a strength, helping pupils manage emotional difficulties and build resilience.
• Pupils benefit from a comprehensive careers programme and opportunities in sport, outdoor pursuits and the arts.
• Pupils in the specially resourced provision for autism achieve well and thrive socially, emotionally and academically.
• Support for pupils newly arrived to the country and those new to English is impressive, helping them build language skills quickly.
• Support for looked-after pupils and disadvantaged pupils is strong, with close work with outside experts and appropriate use of additional funding.
• Governance has been strengthened, with governors offering suitable challenge and support and targeting resources to vulnerable pupils.
• An inclusive approach to misbehaviour has led to a sharp reduction in suspensions, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils generally behave well, engage in learning, take pride in their work and value the calmer, more orderly school environment.
• Early signs show attendance work is beginning to have a positive impact, particularly for pupils newer to the school.
• Improvements to reading support are starting to have a positive impact, especially for pupils with little or no English.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is uneven, with some groups of pupils having gaps in knowledge that hinder their overall progress.
• Some pupils' reading and handwriting difficulties limit their access to the curriculum and are not addressed effectively enough.
• By Year 11, some pupils have not caught up well enough to succeed in future education.
• Irregular attendance and persistent absence are consistently above national averages, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Poor conduct by a minority of pupils during social times undermines the school's improved behaviour culture.
• Some staff are slow to implement the new behaviour policy consistently.
• Some pupils feel bullying and discriminatory language are not dealt with quickly enough.
• Teaching quality is inconsistent across subjects and lessons, so pupils' experiences vary.
• Teachers do not follow up assessment checks well enough to address gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• Teachers often do not use information about pupils' specific needs well, including for SEND pupils and those who have been absent.
• Support for pupils with writing or number gaps has begun too recently to be fully effective.
• Inclusion is inconsistent: some SEND pupils not in the resourced provision benefit less because support does not always meet their needs.
• Some pupils do not learn important PSHE and RSE content as well as they should.
• Leaders' improvement strategies for attendance and teaching have not been reviewed or adapted carefully enough.
• Professional learning is valued but its impact on teaching is not evaluated carefully enough.
• Turbulent staffing has hindered improvement, and some staff feel leaders could do more to create a positive professional culture.
• Destinations after 16 are below national averages.

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 Lostock High School attended 87.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 34.0% 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, 13.2% of pupils at Lostock High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Lostock High School had 11.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.3% 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, 16.4% of pupils at Lostock High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 11.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 26 pupils.

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 Lostock High School received £12,354 and spent £12,508 for each of its 514 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £164,000 (£319 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).

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What is Lostock High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Lostock High School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Lostock High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Lostock High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Lostock High School have?

Lostock High School has 513 pupils on roll.

What age range does Lostock High School cover?

Lostock High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Lostock High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.4, and 33% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Lostock High School?

Lostock High School is at Selby Road, Stretford, Manchester, M32 9PL.