The Catholic High School, Chester

The Catholic High School, Chester is a warm, friendly and inclusive school where pupils thrive and generally achieve well. Inspectors found the school performing at the expected standard across all evaluated areas, including achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, personal development and wellbeing, and post-16 provision. Pupils benefit from a strong sense of community, attentive pastoral care, a broad and ambitious curriculum, and rich extra-curricular opportunities. The school's specially resourced provision for pupils with autism and its 'Trinity' support for social, emotional and mental health needs are particular strengths, and staff, pupils and parents speak highly of the school.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a warm, friendly and inclusive school community
• Strong and trusting relationships between staff and pupils, ensuring pupils feel safe and supported
• A broad, ambitious and well-designed curriculum that builds on prior learning
• Strong foundations in literacy, with effective support for pupils who speak English as an additional language
• High-quality, well-considered care and teaching in the specially resourced provision for pupils with autism
• A coherent personal development programme that meets statutory requirements and responds to local safeguarding priorities
• Pupils develop respect for differences and a secure understanding of fundamental British values
• Purposeful careers guidance and employer partnerships that help pupils prepare for their next steps
• An inclusive sixth form offering a broad range of well-designed courses of study
• Pupils achieve well overall, including disadvantaged pupils whose outcomes are close to national averages in many subjects
• Attendance for all pupils and those with SEND is in line with the national average
• A calm and orderly atmosphere supported by well-established routines, warm staff relationships and an effective rewards system
• Bullying is rare and staff respond quickly and effectively when concerns arise
• Leaders, trustees and governors are united in their commitment to pupils and have an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas for improvement
• Staff feel genuinely valued, with leaders considerate of workload and wellbeing and providing strong professional development

Areas for Improvement

• Learning is not consistently adapted precisely enough to meet the needs of some pupils with SEND
• At times, pupils do not have sufficient opportunity to learn from errors they make
• The intended curriculum is not yet delivered consistently well across all areas
• Published A-level results dipped below average in 2025, with students on some academic courses not achieving as well as they should
• Attendance and persistent absence among disadvantaged pupils remain areas for further improvement
• Recent improvements to post-16 provision need to be built upon to ensure students achieve well
• Numeracy support across the school is still being strengthened
• Leaders continue to refine how they evaluate the impact of their inclusion strategies

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 The Catholic High School, Chester attended 90.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.9% 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, 3.3% of pupils at The Catholic High School, Chester were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 The Catholic High School, Chester had 14.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.1% 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, 19.8% of pupils at The Catholic High School, Chester were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 15 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 2024–25 The Catholic High School, Chester received £12,577 and spent £12,580 for each of its 809 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £389,000 (-£481 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Chester · Cheshire West and Chester local authority: places and applications

What is The Catholic High School, Chester's Ofsted rating?

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

When was The Catholic High School, Chester last inspected by Ofsted?

The Catholic High School, Chester was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does The Catholic High School, Chester have?

The Catholic High School, Chester has 797 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Catholic High School, Chester cover?

The Catholic High School, Chester for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Catholic High School, Chester's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.1, and 36% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Catholic High School, Chester?

The Catholic High School, Chester is at Old Wrexham Road, Handbridge, Chester, Cheshire, CH4 7HS.