GCSE results 2026

Cheshire West and Chester GCSE results 2026

Provisional 2025/26 results for 20 state secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester, 3,779 pupils. Cheshire West and Chester ranks 83 of 151 councils for Attainment 8, which rose by 0.5 points on 2025.

Grade 5+ English & maths

44.4%

3.4 pts below England

Grade 7+ English & maths

12.7%

2.0 pts below England

Attainment 8

46.5

1.1 points below England

Council rank

83 / 151

By average Attainment 8

Cheshire West and Chester at a glance

Highest Attainment 8: Tarporley High School and Sixth Form College (57.5).
Schools range from 30.3 to 57.5 on Attainment 8, a spread of 27.2 points, so the school you choose matters more than the council average.
Disadvantaged pupils averaged 33.1, 17.5 points behind their classmates (a wider gap than England’s 13.8). They did best at The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School (44.3).
Most improved on 2025: Upton-by-Chester High School, up 5.8 points to 54.6.

Every Cheshire West and Chester secondary school, ranked

Ranked by Attainment 8 · 2025/26 provisional · E&M: English and maths

#	School	Pupils	Attainment 8	vs 2025	Grade 4+ E&M	Grade 5+ E&M	Grade 7+ E&M	Disadvantaged A8
1	Tarporley High School and Sixth Form College	206	57.5	+2.4	82.5%	65.5%	26.2%	43.4
2	Bishop Heber High School	206	54.6	+0.8	81.6%	65.0%	20.4%	42.3
3	Upton-by-Chester High School	277	54.6	+5.8	78.3%	52.3%	19.1%	40.1
4	The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High SchoolChurch of England	196	53.7	−0.1	78.1%	57.7%	17.9%	44.3
5	Weaverham High School	229	53.5	+2.9	75.5%	59.0%	22.3%	41.5
6	Christleton High School	212	52.4	−2.4	78.8%	55.2%	16.0%	38.5
7	The County High School, Leftwich	209	50.1	−1.8	68.9%	51.7%	19.6%	34.6
8	Hartford Church of England High SchoolChurch of England	215	49.7	−0.6	75.8%	59.5%	19.5%	32.7
9	St Nicholas Catholic High SchoolRoman Catholic	210	49.7	−1.1	76.7%	48.1%	14.8%	40.7
10	Queen's Park High School	115	48.6	+4.4	67.8%	53.0%	13.9%	36.8
11	Helsby High School	194	46.6	−0.5	70.6%	46.9%	6.7%	38.1
12	Neston High School	298	46.2	+2.8	64.4%	40.3%	8.1%	36.2
13	The Catholic High School, ChesterRoman Catholic	116	44.1	−2.6	61.2%	36.2%	7.8%	28.7
14	The Whitby High School	267	39.0	+0.1	49.4%	31.5%	3.7%	28.6
15	Chester International School	76	38.5	+4.0	61.8%	27.6%	6.6%	31.5
16	Ellesmere Port Church of England CollegeAnglican/Church of England	131	36.9	−2.1	42.7%	20.6%	2.3%	31.6
17	Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary AcademyRoman Catholic	163	36.2	−0.7	46.6%	17.8%	1.8%	28.5
18	The Rudheath Senior Academy	115	32.2	−3.5	35.7%	19.1%	3.5%	27.1
19	The Winsford Academy	217	32.0	+1.4	39.6%	18.9%	2.3%	24.3
20	Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College	127	30.3	−2.9	31.5%	19.7%	4.7%	23.6
	England average		47.6		66.8%	47.8%	14.7%	37.7

Disadvantaged A8: Attainment 8 of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years or looked after; blank where the school has too few to publish. Small year groups move more from year to year.

Cheshire West and Chester against the rest of the North West

Grade 5+ in English and maths, 2026

Trafford65.7%
Stockport52.9%
Warrington50.8%
Bolton47.9%
Manchester46.4%
Cheshire East46.1%
Wirral46.0%
Lancashire45.0%
Blackburn with Darwen44.4%
Cheshire West and Chester44.4%
Tameside44.3%
Salford44.2%
Wigan44.1%
Westmorland and Furness42.8%
St. Helens41.9%
Oldham41.4%
Rochdale41.2%
Sefton40.2%
Bury39.6%
Liverpool39.1%
Blackpool37.1%
Halton36.5%
Cumberland34.0%
Knowsley26.2%

Reading these figures

Attainment 8 is out of 90: a pupil’s grades in eight GCSE slots added up, with English and maths counted twice.
There is no Progress 8 this year (these pupils sat no KS2 SATs), so results partly reflect each school’s intake.
These are provisional figures; revised ones with re-marks follow in early 2027.
Source: Department for Education, Key stage 4 performance (school-level data). Council figures are our pupil-weighted calculation over state-funded mainstream schools; independent schools are not included.