South Wigston High School

About South Wigston High School

South Wigston High School’s headline Progress 8 score of -1.02 sits well below the Leicestershire local authority average of -0.1, placing it among the lowest-performing secondary schools in the region. In fact, the school ranks 40th out of 46 similar schools in the LA, and nationally it falls in the bottom 4% of all state secondaries. This is a significant gap, and it’s reflected in the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024, which rated overall effectiveness as Requires Improvement — a step up from its previous Inadequate rating in 2022. All five Ofsted categories, including behaviour and attitudes, leadership, and personal development, now sit at Requires Improvement, suggesting the school is in a period of stabilisation rather than rapid turnaround. With 31% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average disadvantage, which may partly contextualise these figures, but the data still points to a school with considerable ground to make up academically.

Academically, the picture is challenging across the board. The school’s Attainment 8 score of 35 is low, and only 42.2% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, compared with a national benchmark that typically sits around 60%. The EBacc entry rate is 28.3%, and just 10.2% of pupils entered the full EBacc combination, with only 4.8% achieving a grade 5 or above in both English and maths. Progress 8 breakdowns show negative scores across all subject areas: English (-0.9), maths (-1.04), the EBacc bucket (-0.99), and open subjects (-1.13). The school’s EBacc average point score of 3.07 is modest. These results place South Wigston at the bottom of its local authority table, and the Progress 8 banding is officially classified as “well below average”. For parents focused on academic outcomes, this is clearly a school where results are significantly behind local and national norms.

On the practical side, South Wigston High School is a mixed, non-denominational secondary for ages 11 to 16 with no sixth form. It is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 275 applications for 130 places, a ratio of 2.12 to one, with 99 first-preference offers made. Facilities include a theatre, science labs, ICT suite, library, and playing fields, and the school offers a broad range of sports from rugby and netball to martial arts and dance. Clubs include choir, drama, coding, and a gardening club. The school’s SEND provisions are extensive, covering dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and physical disabilities, among others. For families considering this school, the key tension is clear: it is popular locally despite weak outcomes, likely due to its community role and support for pupils with additional needs. Parents prioritising academic rigour may want to look at higher-performing schools in the LA, but those whose children need a supportive environment with strong SEND infrastructure may find it a better fit.

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