SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Chester, Cheshire West and Chester

The Catholic High School, Chester

Old Wrexham Road, Handbridge, Chester, Cheshire, CH4 7HS

Sixth form Roman Catholic
School website 01244952788

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 19 May 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

46.7 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

45% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

64% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

15% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.08confidence interval -0.39 to 0.23

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
C-
Average points per entry
26.4

England average 32.3

A level students
77

Pupils

Pupils on roll
797
Places
1117
How full
71% full — 797 of 1117 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
399 / 398
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
26%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
22%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
19%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
4%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
14%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
82%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
73%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
56%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
151

After sixth form

Went to university
58%

England 50%

In education, work or training
89%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
76

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

15% 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
69%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
67

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 West and Chester 043F, 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
49%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
10%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
49%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
5%

England 17%

Households with no car
28%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
THE CHESTER CATHOLIC ACADEMIES PARTNERSHIP
Headteacher
Headteacher: CATHRYN MCKEAGNEY
Ward
Handbridge Park
Constituency
Chester South and Eddisbury
URN
139343

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Queen's Park High SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 44.2 0.5 mi
Chester International SchoolStudio schools Good 2022 34.5 0.7 mi
The King's SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
The Queen's SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.9 mi
The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 53.8 1.2 mi
Christleton High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 54.8 2.5 mi
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports CollegeFoundation school No grade 33.2 2.5 mi
Upton-by-Chester High SchoolFoundation school No grade 48.8 2.7 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
Woodbridge High SchoolCommunity school Outstanding 2023 52.2
Gillingham SchoolVoluntary controlled school Good 2023 42.7
Christopher Whitehead Language CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 43.8
The Academy, SelseyAcademy sponsor led No grade 38
Horsforth SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 57.3
Neston High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 43.4
Mark Rutherford SchoolAcademy converter No grade 41.5
Hampton CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 44.5

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.