Atherton High School
Free schools · 561 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.3
Community school
Bedford High School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,111of 1,210 places
- Free school meals
- 40.2%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 207
- Ofsted
- Good, 3 October 2023Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Bedford High School has no sixth form. Of the 212 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 18% moved to a sixth form college, 55% to a further education college and 7% started an apprenticeship.
Spanish is unusually popular at GCSE: 67% of the year group took it, against 19% of pupils across England.
11% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 45.5 against 46.1 across England and 43.4 in Wigan, with 48% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Wigan and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Bedford High School | Wigan | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 212 | 3,620 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 86% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 74% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | — | 6% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 18% | 33% | 13% |
| — further education college | 55% | 41% | 37% |
| — other education | — | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 11% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 2% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Bedford High School | Wigan | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 45.5 | 43.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 48% | 39% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 55% | 30% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.09 | 3.73 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 36% | 28% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 38.8 | 33.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 49.3 | 47.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 12% | 8% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 207 | 100% | 88% | 10% | 22% | 72% |
| English Language | 207 | 100% | 89% | 13% | 20% | 70% |
| English Literature | 203 | 98% | 86% | 26% | 21% | 83% |
| Combined Science | 172 | 83% | 65% | 8% | 9% | 57% |
| Spanish | 138 | 67% | 19% | 11% | 27% | 70% |
| History | 96 | 46% | 41% | 22% | 26% | 65% |
| Geography | 73 | 35% | 41% | 7% | 25% | 41% |
| Business Studies | 63 | 30% | 18% | 24% | 20% | 63% |
| Physical Education | 46 | 22% | 11% | 4% | 24% | 41% |
| Art and Design | 32 | 15% | 7% | 13% | 24% | 75% |
| Physics | 31 | 15% | 23% | 32% | 46% | 90% |
| Drama | 31 | 15% | 7% | 6% | 27% | 58% |
| Chemistry | 31 | 15% | 23% | 42% | 47% | 84% |
| Biology | 31 | 15% | 23% | 19% | 45% | 87% |
| Computer Science | 27 | 13% | 13% | 11% | 30% | 41% |
| Photography | 22 | 11% | 6% | 9% | 19% | 100% |
| Music | 15 | 7% | 5% | 27% | 33% | 93% |
| Textiles | 13 | 6% | 2% | 0% | 27% | 85% |
| Religious Studies | 10 | 5% | 31% | 0% | 32% | 80% |
| 3D Design | 6 | 3% | 2% | 67% | 16% | 100% |
| Polish | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Arabic | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Urdu | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Russian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 86 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 36 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 35 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 12 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 11 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Wigan
Cansfield High School
Community school · 974 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.4
Dean Trust Rose Bridge
Academy sponsor led · 692 pupils
73% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.7
Dean Trust Wigan
Academy sponsor led · 715 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.1
Fred Longworth High School
Academy converter · 1,283 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.9
Golborne High School
Foundation school · 1,144 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.1
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.