St Patrick's RC High School

About St Patrick's RC High School

St Patrick's RC High School sits comfortably above the Salford local authority average for Progress 8, with a score of 0.07 compared to the LA average of -0.22. That difference of nearly three tenths of a grade per subject is a meaningful one, placing the school fourth out of 17 secondary schools in the borough. It means that, on average, pupils here leave with slightly better results than their peers in other Salford schools, even when accounting for prior attainment. The school is also oversubscribed by a significant margin — 555 applications for 171 places in the 2025/26 intake, with 262 first-preference applications — which suggests local families recognise the value on offer. The Progress 8 banding is officially 'Average', but given the LA context, that average is a strong one. The school's attainment 8 score of 49.7 and basics 9-4 pass rate of 75.1 per cent further underline solid academic performance that outpaces the typical Salford state secondary.

Looking more closely at the breakdown, St Patrick's pupils perform particularly well in the EBacc subjects, with a Progress 8 score of 0.15 in that bucket, and 67 per cent of pupils entered for the full EBacc combination. The maths Progress 8 score is a modest 0.02, while English sits at -0.03 — essentially in line with national expectations. The open element, which covers non-EBacc qualifications, shows the strongest positive score at 0.08. At the top end, 49.2 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, and the EBacc average point score of 4.65 is respectable. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2022 rated it Good across all categories, including behaviour and attitudes and personal development. That's a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2008, but the current inspection team found no major weaknesses, and the school has held a Good rating consistently since.

The school is a Roman Catholic 11-16 mixed comprehensive with no sixth form, so families will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere. Facilities are generous for a state school, including a swimming pool, theatre, chapel, and dedicated music and art studios. The SEND provision is broad, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, SEMH, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 18.3 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, the intake is slightly above the national average for disadvantage, but the school's results suggest it supports these pupils effectively. For families in Salford seeking a Catholic secondary that delivers above-average outcomes and is clearly popular enough to be heavily oversubscribed, St Patrick's is a strong contender — though securing a place will require a first-preference application and likely a faith connection.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About St Patrick's RC High School

Helpful Guides for Parents