Poynton High School

About Poynton High School

Poynton High School has been rated Good by Ofsted following its most recent graded inspection in 2015, and an ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed the school remains Good. The strongest single metric for understanding its academic performance is Progress 8, which measures how much pupils improve between the end of primary school and their GCSEs compared with pupils across England. Poynton’s Progress 8 score of 0.29 is not only positive but also well above the average for Cheshire East, where the local authority average sits at -0.17. This places the school third out of 21 secondary schools in the borough, putting it in the top 15 per cent locally. Nationally, it ranks 858th out of 3,141 schools, comfortably in the top third. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 56.9 and an EBacc average point score of 5.34 further underline solid academic outcomes across a broad range of subjects.

At GCSE level, 80.7 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, and 62.3 per cent achieved a grade 5 or above. Over half of pupils (50.7 per cent) entered the EBacc, and 38.6 per cent achieved it at grade 5 or above. The school’s Progress 8 banding is rated ‘Above average’, with particularly strong progress in the EBacc subjects (0.52) and open subjects (0.29), while progress in maths (0.09) and English (0.14) is positive but more modest. In the sixth form, 149 pupils achieved an average of 33.9 points per entry, equivalent to a C+ grade. The best three A-levels averaged 34.8 points, also a C+. The sixth form’s value added score of -0.08 is within the average band, suggesting students achieve roughly what would be expected given their prior attainment.

Poynton is a large, mixed secondary school with 1,500 pupils and a dedicated sixth form centre. It is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 478 applications for 246 places, with 225 offers going to first-preference applicants. The school has a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, and music rooms, and offers clubs from orchestra to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. It provides for a wide spectrum of SEND needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language difficulties, and physical disabilities. With 9 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively advantaged intake but still delivers strong academic progress. This is a school that suits families looking for a high-performing state secondary with a strong sixth form, a wide co-curricular offer, and a track record of pushing pupils beyond the local average.

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