Southlands High School

About Southlands High School

For parents considering Southlands High School, the first signal is that it is a popular choice locally. In the 2025/26 admissions round, the school received 208 applications for 141 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.48. Of those, 66 families put it as their first preference, and all 66 received an offer. That level of demand suggests it holds a solid reputation among Chorley families, even though the school does not publish a parent recommendation percentage. The school is a mixed, non-denominational secondary for ages 11 to 16, with no sixth form. It currently has 931 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,050, so there is some headroom. The headteacher is Paul Bousfield. Around 27.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average and gives a sense of the school's intake.

Academically, the picture is more mixed. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2024, the school was rated Requires Improvement overall, the same grade it received in its previous inspection in December 2021. However, inspectors did note improvements in two areas: behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, both of which were rated Good. The quality of education and personal development remain Requires Improvement. On exam results, the school's Progress 8 score for 2023/24 was -0.49, which is below the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11 and places Southlands 65th out of 90 similar schools in the county. The Attainment 8 score was 39.1, and just 29.6% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths. The EBacc average point score was 3.4, and only 8% of pupils entered the full EBacc combination. These figures place the school in the bottom 50 nationally by Progress 8.

On the practical side, Southlands offers a surprisingly wide range of facilities for a school of its size, including a swimming pool, astro turf, tennis courts, a gymnasium, and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, rowing, rugby, and gymnastics, and there are clubs for drama, Model UN, choir, and science. The school has a substantial SEND department, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. This suggests it is well set up to support a broad range of additional needs. Given its oversubscription but mixed academic outcomes, Southlands may suit families who value a community feel and strong pastoral support over headline exam results, and who are comfortable with a school that is still working through its improvement journey.

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