Bedford High School
Secondary · Community school · Mixed · Wigan
Manchester Road, Leigh, WN7 2LU
61
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 03/10/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
91.0%
25.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,111
Capacity used
Nearly full92%
1,210 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
199 of 199 families who put it first got an offer
231
Places offered
448
Total applications
1.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 199 | 199 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 137 | 14 | ● 10% |
| 3rd preference | 111 | 6 | ● 5% |
| Later preferences | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 448 | 219 | 49% |
1st preference success by year
Wigan lets families list 3 preferences. 14 applications came from outside the council area (1 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Paul McCaffery
- Address
- Manchester Road, Leigh, WN7 2LU
- Phone
- 01942909009
- Local authority
- Wigan
- Ward / constituency
- Leigh South · Leigh and Atherton
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 106523
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 40% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 11% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,111 pupils · 1,210 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
03 October 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,137 pupils
Attendance
91.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.5%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 42.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.24 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 41% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 62% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.83 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 45.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 47.8% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 69.6% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 55.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.09 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 207 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 207 | 10% | 52% | 72% | |
| English Language | 207 | 13% | 48% | 70% | |
| English Literature | 203 | 26% | 66% | 83% | |
| Combined Science | 172 | 8% | 31% | 57% | |
| Spanish | 138 | 11% | 46% | 70% | |
| History | 96 | 22% | 50% | 65% | |
| Geography | 73 | 7% | 29% | 41% | |
| Art and Design | 73 | 14% | 71% | 86% | |
| Business | 63 | 24% | 46% | 63% | |
| Physical Education | 46 | 4% | 30% | 41% | |
| Drama | 31 | 6% | 35% | 58% | |
| Biology | 31 | 19% | 61% | 87% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Wigan council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.