Bedford High School

Wigan · WN7 2LU

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1111 pupils, 40.2% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 16% on SEN support Behaviour 9.0% absence rate Staff 14% turnover Financials £8,006 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Bedford High School

General Information

Address: Manchester Road, Leigh, WN7 2LU – View on map
Phone: 01942909009
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Paul McCaffery
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 159 families put it first for 179 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. 1 of the 179 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1111 pupils out of 1210 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 447
% eligible for free school meals: 40.2%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (similar to the Wigan average)
English as an additional language: 13% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 14% a year (Wigan 15.5%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 39% moved to another school, 61% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Wigan: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 16 (0.8 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 22 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 5 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Wigan, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 9.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 25.2%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 16.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 58 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 58 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 20 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 16 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 11 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 14 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 8 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 45.5
Compared with the area: 1.1 points above the Wigan average (44.4)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (+2.8 points against an expected 42.7)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 70% (Wigan 63%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolWigan averageEngland↗ Improving Up 8.5 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 1.1 points above the Wigan average (44.4).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

9th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for Attainment 8

#7Fred Longworth High School45.9
#8The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College45.7
#9Bedford High School45.5
#10Cansfield High School44.4
#11St Mary's Catholic High School44.2

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1St Peter's Catholic High School51.1
#2Golborne High School50.1
#3Standish Community High School49.7
#4St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield49.1
#5Shevington High School49.0
#6Lowton Church of England High School47.5
#7Fred Longworth High School45.9
#8The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College45.7
#9Bedford High School45.5
#10Cansfield High School44.4
#11St Mary's Catholic High School44.2
#12St John Fisher Catholic High School41.3
#13The Byrchall High School41.3
#14Hawkley Hall High School40.4
#15Outwood Academy Hindley40.0
#16Dean Trust Rose Bridge39.7
#17Atherton High School39.3
#18The Westleigh School36.4
#19Dean Trust Wigan33.1

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 86.0%
Went into further education: 74.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Spanish
History
Geography
Business Studies
Art & Design
Sports Studies
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Biology
Speech & Drama
Computer Science
Photography
Music Studies (General)
Religious Studies
Polish
Arabic
Urdu
Chinese
Russian

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

3rd of 11 secondary schools in Wigan for Ofsted rating

#1Golborne High SchoolOutstanding
#2Atherton High SchoolGood
#3Bedford High SchoolGood
#4Cansfield High SchoolGood
#5Fred Longworth High SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Golborne High SchoolOutstanding
#2Atherton High SchoolGood
#3Bedford High SchoolGood
#4Cansfield High SchoolGood
#5Fred Longworth High SchoolGood
#6Lowton Church of England High SchoolGood
#7St Mary's Catholic High SchoolGood
#8St Peter's Catholic High SchoolGood
#9The Byrchall High SchoolGood
#10The Westleigh SchoolGood
#11Dean Trust WiganRequires improvement

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,006 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

6th of 19 secondary schools in Wigan for spending per pupil

#4Atherton High School£8,254
#5St John Fisher Catholic High School£8,039
#6Bedford High School£8,006
#7Cansfield High School£7,932
#8The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College£7,815

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Dean Trust Wigan£8,808
#2Dean Trust Rose Bridge£8,471
#3The Westleigh School£8,341
#4Atherton High School£8,254
#5St John Fisher Catholic High School£8,039
#6Bedford High School£8,006
#7Cansfield High School£7,932
#8The Deanery Church of England High School and Sixth Form College£7,815
#9Lowton Church of England High School£7,756
#10Outwood Academy Hindley£7,664
#11The Byrchall High School£7,624
#12St Mary's Catholic High School£7,474
#13Fred Longworth High School£7,462
#14Shevington High School£7,374
#15Golborne High School£7,331
#16St Peter's Catholic High School£6,887
#17St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, Ashton-in-Makerfield£6,886
#18Hawkley Hall High School£6,679
#19Standish Community High School£6,536

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Wigan: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered