Cardinal Newman College

About Cardinal Newman College

Cardinal Newman College’s Progress 8 score of -0.19 sits below the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11 for secondary schools, meaning pupils here make less academic progress from Key Stage 2 to GCSE than their peers across the county. That places the college 43rd out of 90 similar schools in Lancashire and 9th out of 11 in Preston itself, putting it in the bottom half locally. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 44.5 is modest, and while 72% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, only 42.2% managed a grade 5 or above — a significant drop that suggests the college serves a cohort where securing higher grades is a challenge. With 29.8% of students eligible for free school meals, well above the national average, the context matters: the school is working with a more disadvantaged intake than many, and its Progress 8 score, though negative, is not dramatically worse than the LA average.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, the college was rated Good overall, with Good marks across all four graded categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. That’s consistent with its previous Good rating in 2016, so there’s stability in leadership under headteacher Nick Burnham. The EBacc entry rate of 49.1% is healthy, though only 28.6% of pupils achieved the EBacc at a grade 4 or above, and just 14.3% at grade 5 or above. Progress in English (-0.14) is closer to the national average than in maths (-0.31) or the EBacc subjects (-0.43), which is a common pattern for schools with higher disadvantage. The open element of Progress 8 — which covers non-EBacc qualifications — is actually slightly positive at 0.04, suggesting vocational or creative subjects may be a relative strength.

The college is heavily oversubscribed: for 151 places in 2025/26, it received 339 applications, with 119 first-preference offers and an oversubscription ratio of 2.25. That level of demand, despite the middling headline results, points to strong local reputation — possibly tied to its Roman Catholic character, its 16-99 age range (it’s a sixth-form college that also runs adult education), or its unusually generous facilities for a state school, including a swimming pool, chapel, art studios, music rooms, and astro turf. SEND provision is broad, covering dyslexia, autism, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities, among others. This is a school that suits families who value a faith-based, inclusive environment and are realistic about academic outcomes — it’s not a high-flyer on paper, but it’s stable, well-led, and clearly popular with local parents.

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