St Augustine's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

About St Augustine's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

St Augustine's Roman Catholic High School in Ribble Valley holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, a step down from the Outstanding grade it received in its previous inspection a decade earlier. The school's Progress 8 score of 0.19 is the most telling academic metric here: it means pupils achieve nearly a fifth of a grade more per subject than the national average, and it comfortably exceeds the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11. That score places the school 22nd out of 90 similar state secondaries across the county, and third out of six schools in Ribble Valley itself. In national terms, it sits in the top 35% of all schools, with a ranking of 1101 out of 3141. The Attainment 8 score of 48.2 gives a sense of overall achievement, while 69.7% of pupils secured a grade 4 or above in both English and maths — a solid benchmark for a school with 15.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals.

Digging deeper into the Progress 8 breakdown, the school shows particular strength in English, where the score reaches 0.3, and in open subjects (0.32), while maths sits at 0.11 and EBacc subjects at 0.02. The EBacc entry rate is relatively low at 19.9%, with only 10.4% of pupils achieving the full EBacc at grade 5 or above, which suggests the school does not push the full suite of academic subjects as strongly as some. Ofsted rated both quality of education and personal development as Good, with behaviour and attitudes also Good. The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 575 applications for 207 places, with 190 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.78. That level of demand reflects strong local reputation, particularly among Catholic families in the area.

The school serves pupils aged 11 to 16 with no sixth form, and its facilities are notably strong for a state secondary: a swimming pool, sports hall, theatre, chapel, science labs, tennis courts, and a library are all on site. Sports offered include gymnastics, cricket, netball, basketball, tennis, dance, athletics, and swimming, and there are clubs such as Eco Club, Book Club, Gardening, Orchestra, and Science Club. SEND provision is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language difficulties, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a school that suits families who value a Catholic ethos, strong but not exceptional academic outcomes, and a wide range of extracurricular and sporting opportunities — and who are prepared to compete for a place in a popular local school.

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