Shevington High School

About Shevington High School

Shevington High School is a popular choice among local families, and the numbers bear that out. For the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school received 591 applications for 171 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.46. Of those, 175 families put it as their first preference, and 149 of those were offered a place. That level of demand suggests parents in the Wigan area see something they like here. The school is a mixed, non-denominational state secondary for pupils aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form. It has a capacity of 890 and currently houses 878 pupils, so it is running very close to full. The headteacher is John Bennett. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in 2022, the school was judged to remain Good, a rating it has held consistently across its previous graded inspections.

Academically, Shevington sits in a solid middle ground compared with other schools nationally and locally. Its Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year was -0.18, which is above the Wigan local authority average of -0.3. That places it 9th out of 19 secondary schools in the borough, and in the top half nationally (62.8th percentile). The Attainment 8 score was 46.4, and 66.3% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though that drops to 42.3% at grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score was 3.86, with only 9.7% of pupils entering the EBacc combination of subjects. Progress in English (-0.14) was slightly stronger than in maths (-0.29), and the school’s overall Progress 8 banding is rated as Average. For context, the top-performing school in the LA, St Edmund Arrowsmith, scored 0.16, so Shevington is performing respectably within its local peer group.

The school offers a wide range of facilities, including a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium, theatre, music rooms, and a library. Sports provision is strong, with options like netball, rowing, football, swimming, tennis, and martial arts. There is also a good selection of clubs, from debate and drama to coding and gardening. For families with children who have additional needs, the SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and physical or sensory impairments. The school is not a boarding school and does not have a nursery. Given its oversubscription, families considering Shevington should be prepared to apply early and list it as a first preference to maximise their chances. It suits families who want a well-resourced, mainstream secondary with a broad extracurricular offer and a solid, if not exceptional, academic track record.

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