SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Cheadle, Stockport

St James' Catholic High School

St James' Way, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 6PZ

Roman Catholic Full
School website 01614826900

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 28 April 2026.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

51.1 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

46% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

73% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

46% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

0.23confidence interval 0.01 to 0.46

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as above 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.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
824
Places
825
How full
Nearly full — 824 of 825 places taken
Girls / boys
429 / 395
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
14%

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
10%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
8%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
88%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
6%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
156

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Stockport 039C, 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
13%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
80%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
4%

England 17%

Households with no car
13%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Voluntary aided school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Anthony Pontifex
Local authority
Stockport
Ward
Cheadle Hulme South
Constituency
Cheadle
URN
106142

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Cheadle Hulme High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 60.7 0.6 mi
Cheadle Hulme SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.6 mi
North West Hospital SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.4 mi
Laurus Cheadle HulmeFree schools Outstanding 2023 54.5 1.5 mi
Bramhall High SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 51.7 2 mi
The Kingsway SchoolAcademy converter No grade 46.5 2.2 mi
Hazel Grove High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 48.6 2.7 mi
Stockport AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 47 2.8 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
Kings' SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 57.8
St Bede's Catholic High School, LythamVoluntary aided school No grade 48.3
Chilwell SchoolFoundation school Good 2024 50.2
Hartismere SchoolAcademy converter No grade 53
The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 53.5
The Costello SchoolAcademy converter No grade 47.3
Taverham High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 49
Alleyne's AcademyAcademy converter No grade 47.7

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.