Across the North West of England, more than 80 thousand pupils will be soon be heading off to their brand new secondary school.
The last term of the 2024/25 school year is now in its final days. Schoolchildren will then get to enjoy the six-week summer holidays, before they head back to class in September for the new, 2025/26 school year. Among them will be a huge cohort of primary school leavers transitioning to a whole new world - an often much larger secondary school where they will start working towards important qualifications.
This is why we’re revisiting the best performing state-funded secondary schools across the North West, looking at the top schools in each council area based on our own personal ‘gold standard’. This primarily draws on each school’s Progress 8 score, using the most recently-available exam data (currently for 2023/24).
These scores are an official metric showing how quickly pupils progressed compared to their peers, from when they left primary school to when they took their GCSEs. We’ve only included the very highest achieving schools, with a score above 0.75 - considered a particularly strong ‘well above average’. It is worth noting that performance data has now been finalised, so results and placings may differ slightly from earlier reports based on interim results.
We’ve also made sure each school on the list had positive ratings in their latest Ofsted inspections. These inspections are in the midst of an overhaul, but we’ve restricted our list to those with a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade under the previous system, or positive ratings across all categories under the current one. This means that quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded Government standards.
Here are the 22 exceptional schools that came out on top:
13. Urmston Grammar Academy
This is a selective secondary academy and sixth form in Urmston, in Greater Manchester’s Trafford borough. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.88. | Google
14. Cheadle Hulme High School
This is a secondary academy and sixth form in Cheadle Hulme, in Greater Manchester’s Stockport borough. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.87. | Google
15. Sharples School
This is a secondary academy in Bolton, Greater Manchester, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.86. | Google
16. Burnage Academy for Boys
This is a boys’ secondary academy in Manchester, most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 score of 0.85. | Google