St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy

About St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy in Glossop has turned a corner academically, with its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2021 awarding a Good rating across every category, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2018, when the school was rated Requires Improvement overall. The most telling exam metric is its Progress 8 score of 0.22, which places pupils’ progress well above the Derbyshire local authority average of -0.11. That positive score means students at this 11-16 mixed secondary school are making stronger progress than their peers across the county. The school ranks 2nd out of 7 secondary schools in the High Peak area on this measure, and sits in the top 50% nationally, at the 73rd percentile in the East Midlands region. It’s a solid academic story for a school that has clearly found its footing.

On GCSE outcomes, 55% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, with 39.6% reaching the higher grade 5 benchmark. The Attainment 8 score sits at 43.8, and the EBacc average point score is 3.6, though only 26.1% of pupils entered the EBacc combination of subjects. The school’s Progress 8 breakdown shows particular strength in the open element (0.47), which covers non-core subjects, while maths progress is slightly negative at -0.14 and English progress is a positive 0.14. With 27.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average disadvantage, making its above-average progress all the more notable. The school does not have a sixth form, so pupils move on after Year 11, but there is a Sixth Form Centre on site, suggesting some shared facilities or post-16 provision nearby.

St Philip Howard is a Roman Catholic school that is significantly oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 239 applications for 113 places, with 127 first-preference applications and 111 first-preference offers. That oversubscription ratio of 2.12 reflects strong local demand. Facilities are generous for a school of 572 pupils, including a swimming pool, sports hall, astro turf, tennis courts, a theatre, and a chapel. The school supports a wide range of SEND needs, from dyslexia and autistic spectrum disorder to speech and language communication needs and physical disabilities. With clubs ranging from Model UN and Young Enterprise to gardening and coding, it offers a broad enrichment programme. This is a school that suits families looking for a faith-based secondary with improving academic outcomes, strong community demand, and good facilities in the High Peak area.

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