Christ The King Catholic High School

Christ The King Catholic High School is a smaller-than-average secondary school serving a disadvantaged community, with a high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals. Following its opening in January 2024 within the Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, leaders have addressed previous weaknesses in safeguarding and curriculum design, and these areas are now secure. Pupils experience a calm, orderly environment where they feel safe and trusted, and the school's personal development programme, including a wide range of clubs, trips and leadership opportunities, is a notable strength. Inclusion and leadership are judged to be at the expected standard, with effective use of pupil premium funding and strong engagement with families.

Strengths

• Safeguarding is effective, with an open culture and pupils who feel safe and well supported.
• Leaders have robustly addressed previous weaknesses in safeguarding and curriculum design.
• The school has a well-designed, ambitious curriculum that supports pupils to access appropriate future destinations.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of extracurricular activities, trips and leadership roles.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and value the professional development programme.
• Leaders engage effectively with parents and carers, including those who previously felt unheard.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils typically build their knowledge over time.
• More pupils are now succeeding at their chosen destinations after Year 11.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils who left in 2025 achieved considerably below the national average in national examinations.
• Teaching strategies are not consistently embedded, leading to superficial knowledge and unaddressed misconceptions.
• Pupils' gaps in foundational numeracy are not routinely addressed effectively.
• Attendance has improved but is not sustained; too many pupils are persistently absent.
• Assessment information is not used consistently well to address misconceptions and support future learning.
• Effective strategies to reduce pupils' barriers to learning are not put in place consistently.
• Pupils' barriers to attendance are not consistently reduced, impacting progress and achievement.

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 Christ The King Catholic High School attended 90.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.6% 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, 17.5% of pupils at Christ The King Catholic High School 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, 16.8% of pupils at Christ The King Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.3% 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 2024–25 Christ The King Catholic High School received £9,153 and spent £10,171 for each of its 416 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £231,000 (-£555 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, income was £6,871 and spending £6,690 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

Christ The King Catholic High School is part of Mater Ecclesiae Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Ignatius' Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Anthony's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Maria Goretti Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• St Clare's Catholic Primary School, Preston Preston
• Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Ingol, Preston Preston

What is Christ The King Catholic High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Christ The King Catholic High School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Christ The King Catholic High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Christ The King Catholic High School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Christ The King Catholic High School have?

Christ The King Catholic High School has 446 pupils on roll.

What age range does Christ The King Catholic High School cover?

Christ The King Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Christ The King Catholic High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.0, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Christ The King Catholic High School?

Christ The King Catholic High School is at Lawrence Avenue, Frenchwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 4PR.