St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy

About St Gabriel's RC High School, a Voluntary Academy

St Gabriel's RC High School in Bury is a popular choice among local families, with 344 applications for 181 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.9. Of those applications, 153 were first-preference choices, and the school made 151 first-preference offers, indicating that the vast majority of families who put it top of their list secured a place. This level of demand suggests a strong local reputation, and it's worth noting that the school is a Roman Catholic voluntary academy, which will shape its admissions criteria. The school is a secondary for pupils aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form, and currently has 1,053 pupils on roll, just above its stated capacity of 1,050. A quarter of its pupils (23.3%) are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly above the national average and gives some indication of the school's intake.

Academically, St Gabriel's received a Good rating from Ofsted in its most recent graded inspection in March 2023, a significant improvement from its previous Inadequate rating in 2019. The inspectors rated all four key areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — as Good. In terms of exam results for 2023/24, the school's Progress 8 score was -0.18, which is below the Bury local authority average of -0.02, and places it 9th out of 14 schools in the borough. Its Attainment 8 score was 44.5, and 58.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The school's EBacc average point score was 3.88, with 17.6% of pupils entering the EBacc and 11.4% achieving a strong pass. Progress in English was slightly positive at +0.09, but maths progress was notably weaker at -0.68, which is a clear area for improvement.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium, astro turf, tennis courts, and a chapel, alongside music rooms, art studios, and an ICT suite. There is a broad selection of extracurricular activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, Model UN, Young Enterprise, and a range of sports including gymnastics, rugby, and cricket. St Gabriel's also provides support for a wide spectrum of special educational needs, including dyslexia, autism, speech and language difficulties, and physical disabilities. For families considering this school, it is a faith-based, oversubscribed secondary that has made a clear turnaround from its previous Ofsted rating, but whose Progress 8 score sits slightly below the local average. It will particularly suit families who value a Catholic ethos and a broad range of enrichment opportunities, and who are comfortable with a school that is still working to improve its academic outcomes, particularly in maths.

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