SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Nantwich, Cheshire East

Brine Leas School

Audlem Road, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 7DY

Ofsted Good · 2022 Sixth form Full
School website 01270625663

Ofsted

Goodas at 19 May 2022

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 19 May 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

49.7 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

53% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

77% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

47% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.07confidence interval -0.26 to 0.12

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
36.2

England average 32.3

A level students
148

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1417
Places
1350
How full
Full — 1417 pupils against 1350 places
Girls / boys
709 / 708
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
17%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
15%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
5%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
89%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
50%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
214

After sixth form

Went to university
66%

England 50%

In education, work or training
95%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
133

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

33% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
80%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
150

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Cheshire East 050C, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
40%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
15%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
90%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
1%

England 17%

Households with no car
9%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
50%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
THE CORNOVII TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Paul Whitehead
Local authority
Cheshire East
Ward
Nantwich South and Stapeley
Constituency
Crewe and Nantwich
URN
136279

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Malbank School and Sixth Form CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 1.2 mi
Shavington AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 47.8 2.5 mi
St Thomas More Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 47.7 3.1 mi
The Oaks AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 35.4 3.4 mi
Ruskin Community High SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 37.9 3.6 mi
Crewe Engineering and Design UTCUniversity technical college No grade 32.4 4.3 mi
Cheshire Studio SchoolStudio schools Good 2023 24 4.3 mi
Sir William Stanier SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 28.4 4.8 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
King Edward VI CEVC SchoolVoluntary controlled school No grade 45.4
Ash Manor SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 49.7
Branston Community AcademyAcademy converter No grade 43.8
William Farr CofE Comprehensive SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 50.8
Lincroft AcademyAcademy converter No grade 45
Corfe Hills SchoolAcademy converter Good 2021 46.7
The Marlborough Science AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 43.4
Ralph Allen SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 54.6

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.