Some of the strongest performing secondary schools in England in the last academic year can be found dotted across the North West.
The government’s brand new preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools were released last week, with primary school and sixth form data expected to follow shortly. Using this data, we’ve created a league table ranking the top state secondary schools across the North West region for the 2023/24 school year - based on their latest Progress 8 scores.
This is a unique figure based on GCSE results and other student achievements, which helps to determine how quickly students at any particular school are learning and progressing compared to peers arriving from similar primary schools nationwide. Any score above 0 is positive, while any above 0.5 is considered ‘well above average’ - the highest band available.
To further narrow it down, we’ve also made sure that all schools included on the list also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had passing marks across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding all met or exceeded government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here are the top 25 schools from across the North West:
1. Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School
At the top of the list is Tauheedal, an Islamic girls’ secondary school and sixth form in Blackburn, Lancashire. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 Score of 2.05 - also making it the third highest-performing school in the country. | Google
2. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
This is a selective boys’ secondary school and sixth form in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an incredible Progress 8 score of 1.32 - considered ‘well above average’. | Google
3. Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School
Similar to its counterpart, this is an Islamic boys’ secondary school and sixth form in Blackburn, Lancashire. It too was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it also had a ‘well above average’ Progress 8 Score of 1.26. | Google
4. Eden Boys' Leadership Academy, Manchester
Another Star Academies trust school, this one is an Islamic boys’ secondary school and sixth form in Manchester, formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an excellent Progress 8 score of 1.20 - marking it as ‘well above average’. | Google