Southlands High School Review 2026: Improving Academy with a Clear Structure and Stronger Consistency

Southlands High School sits in Chorley as an 11 to 16 academy within Mosaic Learning Trust, and the current story is about tightening practice and building consistency. The school’s public messaging centres on a calm, purposeful environment and a “Qualifications +” approach, which frames learning as more than exam grades, with enrichment and character development designed to run alongside the academic core.

Parents should read Southlands as an improving school with clear priorities. External review identifies stronger conduct and leadership than the overall headline might suggest, and subsequent monitoring notes progress in curriculum delivery, reading, and SEND practice, while still flagging uneven implementation in some classrooms.

A school’s day-to-day feel is often shaped less by slogans and more by routines, and Southlands foregrounds structure. Students begin with a Morning Meeting for registration with their Year Manager, which signals an emphasis on attendance, readiness to learn, and pastoral oversight as part of the daily rhythm. The practicalities are designed to reduce friction, including a dedicated dining room and a cashless catering approach that is intended to keep lunchtime orderly and efficient.

Leadership is stable. Paul Bousfield is the headteacher, and he presents the school’s direction as a combination of academic development and personal development, with enrichment positioned as a core entitlement rather than an optional add-on. Evidence from public recruitment material also shows he was in post by January 2022, which matters because sustained improvement work tends to be cumulative rather than immediate.

The school’s stated culture is framed around wellbeing, behaviour, and high expectations. In plain terms, this is a “standards first” positioning, with wellbeing treated as something strengthened by predictable systems, not as a separate bolt-on initiative.

Southlands is ranked 3085th in England and 5th in Chorley for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This places it below the England average overall, within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this measure.

In the headline attainment measures available here, the Attainment 8 score is 39.1. Progress 8 is -0.48, which indicates pupils made below-average progress from their starting points across eight subjects. In the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) suite, the average point score is 3.4, and 8% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above across EBacc subjects.

For families comparing local schools, it is sensible to look beyond the overall rank and focus on trajectory and fit. The FindMySchool Local Hub pages and comparison tools can help you line up GCSE measures and admissions demand side by side across Chorley schools before you shortlist.

The curriculum picture is best understood as “improving, with some unevenness”. The latest graded Ofsted inspection (6 and 7 February 2024) judged the school Requires Improvement overall, with Behaviour and Attitudes graded Good and Leadership and Management graded Good.

Since that inspection, monitoring notes describe a clearer shared model for teaching approaches, whole-school coaching, and stronger staff development, all aimed at making delivery more consistent across subjects. This matters because families often experience inconsistency as the biggest practical weakness in an improving school, especially for students who need predictable routines and explanations.

Support for pupils with SEND is a particular focus in the monitoring evidence, with refinements to the information teachers receive and training intended to help teachers adapt lessons appropriately. The implication for parents is positive but cautious: the direction is right, and checks are stronger, but consistency still varies between classrooms.

Southlands is an 11 to 16 school, so the key transition is post-16. The school’s curriculum and options information is framed to keep pathways open, and the options process is designed to help students and families understand KS4 choices and what they can lead to.

The most useful lens for families is preparedness rather than prestige. If your child is likely to pursue A-levels, you will want to check that KS4 subject choices support those ambitions, and if a technical route is more suitable, you will want to see how the school supports students to understand vocational and apprenticeship pathways. Monitoring evidence notes improvement work around reading and curriculum access, which is particularly relevant for post-16 readiness because weaker literacy often becomes the limiting factor in both academic and technical routes.

Southlands is an academy and sets its own admission criteria, while Year 7 applications are coordinated by Lancashire County Council. The planned admission number (PAN) from September 2026 is 220 students.

When oversubscribed, the policy prioritises, in order, children with an EHCP naming the school, looked-after and previously looked-after children, exceptional medical or social reasons, then children within the school’s geographical priority area (with siblings prioritised ahead of non-siblings), followed by applicants outside the priority area (again with siblings prioritised). Distance is used as the tie-break, measured as a straight-line (radial) distance between home and school points.

The geographical priority area is defined by named local civil parishes and includes Chorley and a wide surrounding area (for example, Euxton, Coppull, Buckshaw Village, Whittle-le-Woods, Adlington, and others). If your family is considering a move, this detail is important because priority area status can change your position materially even before distance is considered.

For September 2026 entry, Lancashire’s coordinated admissions timetable states that applications open on 01 September 2025, the deadline is 31 October 2025, and offers are issued on 02 March 2026.

Pastoral systems at Southlands are presented as formal and role-based, which often works well for secondary-aged students who benefit from clear points of contact. The school publishes named Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), including a Deputy Headteacher with responsibility for pastoral care, and it describes safeguarding as a central operational priority rather than a background compliance task.

The 2024 inspection confirmed that safeguarding arrangements were effective.

Attendance is also treated as a core pastoral and academic lever. Monitoring evidence describes expanded capacity in the attendance team, falling persistent absence overall, and a need for continued work to ensure disadvantaged pupils’ attendance improves at the same rate. The practical implication for parents is that the school is likely to be proactive if attendance slips, and you should expect clear communication and escalation routes.

Southlands frames enrichment through its “Qualifications +” approach, which is intended to broaden students’ experiences beyond timetabled lessons. In concrete terms, the school highlights a mix of sport, performing arts, computing, STEM activity, Eco-school involvement, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

This blend matters because it supports different types of student. A student who thrives on practical, project-based tasks may find STEM and computing activities a route to engagement and confidence, while a student who gains confidence through performance can use drama, dance, or music as an anchor that carries over into classroom participation. The inclusion of Duke of Edinburgh is also a useful marker for character education, as it requires sustained commitment, planning, and teamwork over time rather than one-off participation.

If your child needs supported study outside lessons, the school day information also references a homework club alongside wider activities. This is often more valuable than “more clubs” in the abstract, because it directly supports independent learning habits in KS3 and KS4.

Southlands states that the school day finishes at 3:05pm. The published information emphasises Morning Meeting registration, lunchtime arrangements, and after-school activity options; start-of-day timings are best confirmed directly with the school if you are planning wraparound logistics.

Transport is unusually well documented on the school’s travel page, which lists dedicated school services and public routes serving a range of local areas (including Coppull, Lower Adlington, Abbey Village, and Buckshaw Village). This is useful for families who are not within easy walking distance and want predictable travel options for KS3 and KS4 students.

• The improvement journey is real, but consistency remains the issue to test. Monitoring evidence describes clearer teaching expectations and stronger coaching, but it also notes that checks on learning are not consistently effective across classrooms. Ask how the school ensures consistency subject by subject, not just overall.

• Progress measures are a key watchpoint. A Progress 8 score of -0.48 suggests pupils, on average, have not been making the progress expected from their starting points. If your child is academically able, ask what stretch and support looks like, and if your child is vulnerable, ask how gaps are identified early.

• Attendance expectations are rising. The monitoring letter describes improved attendance overall but flags that disadvantaged pupils’ attendance has not improved at the same rate. If your child has health or anxiety-related absence patterns, discuss support plans early.

• Admissions depend on priority area and distance. The geographical priority area is explicit and wide-ranging, and distance is a tie-break within categories. Families should read the criteria carefully and avoid assumptions based on informal local impressions.

Southlands High School is best understood as an improving 11 to 16 academy with clearer systems, stronger conduct and leadership indicators than the overall headline suggests, and a deliberate push to make teaching more consistent across subjects. It will suit families who want a structured school day, a clear pastoral framework, and a broad “Qualifications +” model that gives students multiple routes to engagement alongside the academic core. The primary question to resolve is consistency, and the best way to test that is through subject-level conversations and a careful look at how improvement work is embedded classroom by classroom.

Families considering Southlands should use the FindMySchool Saved Schools feature to keep a short, manageable comparison set, then refine that list using local GCSE comparisons and admissions criteria checks.