Archbishop Temple Church of England High School

Archbishop Temple Church of England High School is a secondary comprehensive school that has moved forward from its previous requires improvement grade. Inspectors found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management all good. Pupils are proud to attend, feel safe and are generally happy, and the revised behaviour systems have created a calm and orderly environment for most pupils. The school has high expectations and an ambitious, well-ordered curriculum that meets the needs of pupils, including those with SEND, and most pupils achieve well. Reading is promoted well, personal development is strong, and pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips, leadership roles and comprehensive careers advice. Governance is effective and staff morale is high. There are still areas to improve. Some teachers do not check pupils’ understanding effectively, so gaps in knowledge, including for disadvantaged pupils, are not always addressed before new content is introduced. Strategies for pupils with SEND are not implemented consistently, which limits how well some of these pupils access the curriculum and achieve. Behaviour management is also not applied consistently by all staff, and a small number of pupils sometimes struggle to regulate their behaviour and do not engage fully in lessons. Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud to attend and typically live up to the school’s values of respect and service.
• Pupils are happy and feel safe, and most behave well in a calm and orderly environment.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well crafted and sensibly ordered, including for pupils with SEND.
• Most teachers use strong subject knowledge and clear vocabulary to deliver the curriculum well.
• Teachers routinely check recall of previous learning and address misconceptions in most cases.
• Reading is promoted well, with effective support for pupils who struggle and strong reading-for-pleasure opportunities.
• The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is embedded well.
• Pupils benefit from a vast array of clubs, trips, leadership roles and comprehensive careers advice.
• Governors support and challenge the school appropriately, and staff morale is high.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers do not check pupils’ understanding effectively, so gaps in knowledge are not remedied well enough.
• Some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not build on their learning as well as they could.
• Some teachers do not use effective strategies to adapt teaching for pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils with SEND do not access the curriculum and achieve as well as they could.
• Some staff do not apply the behaviour management systems consistently well.
• A small number of pupils do not engage fully with their learning and occasionally do not participate well in lessons.

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 Archbishop Temple Church of England High School attended 93.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 16.7% 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, 11.0% of pupils at Archbishop Temple Church of England 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 Archbishop Temple Church of England High School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.4% 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, 10.2% of pupils at Archbishop Temple Church of England High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.2% 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 Archbishop Temple Church of England High School received £7,144 and spent £7,035 for each of its 892 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £212,000 (£237 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Archbishop Temple Church of England High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Archbishop Temple Church of England High School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Archbishop Temple Church of England High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Archbishop Temple Church of England High School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Archbishop Temple Church of England High School have?

Archbishop Temple Church of England High School has 891 pupils on roll.

What age range does Archbishop Temple Church of England High School cover?

Archbishop Temple Church of England High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Archbishop Temple Church of England High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 56.9, and 60% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Archbishop Temple Church of England High School?

Archbishop Temple Church of England High School is at St Vincent's Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 8RA.