The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Cheshire West and Chester
Vaughans Lane, Chester, CH3 5XF
70
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 20/11/2019
Application demand
88%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
93.2%
19.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,253
Capacity used
Over capacity104%
1,200 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
88%
1st preference success rate
196 of 224 families who put it first got an offer
202
Places offered
674
Total applications
3.3
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 224 | 196 | ● 88% |
| 2nd preference | 300 | 4 | ● 1% |
| 3rd preference | 149 | 2 | ● 1% |
| Later preferences | 1 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 674 | 202 | 30% |
1st preference success by year
Cheshire West and Chester lets families list 3 preferences. 3 applications came from outside the council area (0 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Helen Cairns
- Address
- Vaughans Lane, Great Boughton, Chester, CH3 5XF
- Phone
- 01244313806
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Ward / constituency
- Great Boughton · Chester North and Neston
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136543
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 17% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 8% | — | — |
| SEN support | 11% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE BISHOPS' BLUE COAT CHURCH OF ENGLAND HIGH SCHOOL
1,253 pupils · 1,200 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
30 April 2025
Ungraded inspection
Standards maintained - 19
20 November 2019
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,065 pupils
Attendance
93.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.6%
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 | 48.8 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.26 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 46% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 72% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.15 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 33.69 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 53.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 58.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 79.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 18.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.67 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 193 | — |
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.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 30.67 | 35 |
| Average grade | C | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 16.1% | 17% |
| A-level students | 75 | — |
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 | 193 | 21% | 67% | 87% | |
| English Language | 193 | 19% | 59% | 81% | |
| English Literature | 192 | 17% | 61% | 81% | |
| Religious Studies | 186 | 41% | 73% | 82% | |
| Combined Science | 161 | 22% | 61% | 80% | |
| Geography | 108 | 28% | 61% | 77% | |
| History | 91 | 38% | 71% | 80% | |
| Design & Technology | 44 | 23% | 50% | 66% | |
| Physical Education | 40 | 20% | 57% | 73% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 38 | 21% | 74% | 87% | |
| Biology | 31 | 52% | 90% | 97% | |
| Physics | 31 | 52% | 90% | 97% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 21 | 0% | 5% | 33% | |
| Mathematics | 21 | 10% | 14% | 24% | |
| English Language and Literature | 19 | 5% | 5% | 21% | |
| Religious Studies | 17 | 0% | 0% | 41% | |
| Biology | 15 | 0% | 20% | 53% | |
| Physics | 15 | 7% | 13% | 20% | |
| Geography | 15 | 0% | 13% | 33% | |
| Design and Technology (Product Design) | 12 | 0% | 25% | 50% | |
| History | 8 | 0% | 25% | 50% | |
| Chemistry | 8 | 0% | 25% | 38% | |
| German | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Film Studies | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 15983: The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 58% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 100% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 61% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
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 Cheshire West and Chester 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.