Some of the strongest performing secondary schools in England in the last academic year can be found dotted across the North West.
The government’s brand new preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools were released last week, with primary school and sixth form data expected to follow shortly. Using this data, we’ve created a league table ranking the top state secondary schools across the North West region for the 2023/24 school year - based on their latest Progress 8 scores.
This is a unique figure based on GCSE results and other student achievements, which helps to determine how quickly students at any particular school are learning and progressing compared to peers arriving from similar primary schools nationwide. Any score above 0 is positive, while any above 0.5 is considered ‘well above average’ - the highest band available.
To further narrow it down, we’ve also made sure that all schools included on the list also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had passing marks across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding all met or exceeded government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here are the top 25 schools from across the North West:
9. Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Manchester
Just like its neighbouring school, this is another Islamic secondary school in Manchester - this one for girls. It too was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it also had an excellent Progress 8 score of 1.02 - or ‘well above average’. | Google
10. Levenshulme High School
Levenshulme is a girls’ secondary school, also in Manchester. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a great Progress 8 score of 0.91 - earning it a coveted place in the ‘well above average’ band. | Google
11. Upton Hall School FCJ
Upton Hall is a selective Catholic girls’ secondary school in Wirral, Merseyside. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it also had a fantastic Progress 8 score of 0.91 - or ‘well above average’. | Google
12. Urmston Grammar Academy
This is a selective secondary school and sixth form in Urmston, in Trafford, Greater Manchester. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had a great Progress 8 score of 0.88 - or ‘well above average’. | Google