Priestnall School Review 2026: Laurus Trust secondary with strong progress measures and an October admissions peak

A clear set of organising ideas runs through Priestnall School. Students are expected to build what the school calls KASH (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits), alongside a Cornerstones framework that spans academic aspiration, leadership and service, culture and creativity, plus competition and physical endeavour.

Leadership has also been a visible marker of change. Rachel Howarth is listed as Headteacher on the national Get Information About Schools record, and the school states she was appointed Head of School when Priestnall joined the Laurus Trust in September 2023.

Academically, the latest available GCSE performance metrics show an Attainment 8 score of 56.8 and a Progress 8 score of 0.4, indicating students make above-average progress from their starting points. Locally, the school’s GCSE outcomes rank 5th in Stockport and 1,251st in England (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). Entry is competitive, with 528 applications for 257 offers for the main entry route in the most recent admissions dataset.

The school’s public-facing language emphasises ambition without narrowing into exam-only thinking. The Cornerstones model provides a practical map for students and families, and it is reinforced by the Laurus Trust house culture, which is used to structure competitions, participation, and recognition.

The school also signals a strong community orientation, particularly through volunteering and partnership activity. One recent example is Duke of Edinburgh volunteering recorded across April 2024 to March 2025, where the school reports 1,911 hours contributed to local community work by participating students. For families who value service and structured enrichment, this is a useful indicator of how co-curricular commitments are expected to work in practice.

A further strand is the “Beliefs and Values” curriculum and associated events programme. The school describes an Interfaith Week with events and a debate involving leaders from local places of worship and belief groups, giving students a structured route into discussion, disagreement, and respectful challenge.

The headline story in the data is progress. A Progress 8 score of 0.4 suggests students, on average, outperform peers nationally with similar prior attainment. Attainment 8 is 56.8, reflecting the average achievement across a student’s best eight GCSE slots.

Rankings provide local context. Ranked 1,251st in England and 5th in Stockport for GCSE outcomes, this places Priestnall broadly in line with the middle 35% of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile) based on the FindMySchool ranking methodology using official data. For parents comparing options, this is often the most practical reading, the school is competitive locally and solid in a wider England frame, with progress measures providing the strongest signal of impact.

Curriculum structure is also explicitly published. At Key Stage 3, the school sets out weekly lesson allocations across subjects, including dedicated time for Beliefs and Values (PSHE, RS and Citizenship), plus languages and performing arts alongside the core.

Parents comparing local performance can use the FindMySchool local hub pages to view these results side-by-side and benchmark the progress profile against other Stockport secondaries using the comparison tools.

Priestnall’s curriculum messaging is designed around “powerful knowledge” across departments, with a consistent emphasis on making implicit knowledge explicit, so that students who have not had the same prior access to cultural or academic reference points are not disadvantaged.

At Key Stage 3, the published allocation shows a relatively broad weekly pattern, with languages receiving substantial time across Years 7 to 9. That breadth matters for families who want a balanced lower school experience before GCSE specialism begins.

At Key Stage 4, the options model is framed as a structured choice moment. The school explains that students continue a compulsory core while selecting option subjects, with careers guidance integrated into decision-making, including 1-to-1 careers interviews from Year 10 through Year 11.

This is an 11–16 school, so the main transition point is post-16. In the available destination dataset, published leaver destination percentages are not present for this school, so the best evidence comes from the school’s own transition support structures rather than destination statistics.

Careers education is designed to begin before GCSE selection and continue through Year 11. The options documentation explicitly references individual careers guidance interviews across Years 10 and 11, which is a practical support mechanism for students weighing vocational and academic routes.

For students with SEND, the SEND Information Report references preparation for post-16 transition, including the role of local Services for Young People in supporting planning from Year 9 annual reviews where relevant.

Priestnall’s admissions are coordinated through the Local Authority process. For Year 7 entry for September 2026, the school states the Stockport application portal opens in mid August 2025 and the deadline is 31 October 2025, with offers on 2 March 2026.

Demand is clearly higher than places. In the most recent admissions dataset for the main entry route, there were 528 applications and 257 offers, with an oversubscribed status and a subscription proportion of 2.05. Put simply, there were roughly two applications for every place offered, and first preferences outstripped offers.

Open events appear to follow an October pattern. The school published an Open Evening for September 2026 entry on Thursday 23 October 2025 (5pm to 7.30pm), and stated that registration was not required.

Families considering admission should use the FindMySchoolMap Search to check their location against published catchment information and understand how the Local Authority’s coordinated criteria apply. Where a school is oversubscribed, this kind of precise mapping is often more useful than relying on rough assumptions.

Pastoral systems are described as layered. The school’s SEND documentation references supervision at the start and end of the day where risks are identified, daily access to a form tutor, and non-teaching Heads of Year who can support students during the day, including escalation to a school nurse and a confidential school counsellor where appropriate.

Wellbeing information signposts external support as well as school-based routes. For example, the school promotes Kooth, described as a free online counselling and emotional wellbeing platform for children and young people.

Behaviour expectations are presented as structured and consequential, including after-school detentions linked to incident thresholds. For families, the key question is fit, students who respond well to clear boundaries and consistent follow-through often do best in schools that frame behaviour in this way.

Extracurricular life is unusually well evidenced because the school publishes an electives model and frequently reports on activity outcomes.

One distinctive pillar is performance and ensemble work. The school reports that the Priestnall Advanced Choir travelled to Blackburn Cathedral to perform as part of Gabrieli Roar, with the opportunity to perform alongside professional musicians from the Gabrieli Consort led by Paul McCreesh. For students who want high-challenge cultural opportunities without needing a specialist music school, this is a meaningful example of access and ambition.

A second pillar is sport and facilities. Club Priestnall operates on site with a substantial facilities list, including a 9-a-side 3G pitch, four badminton courts, four pickleball courts, a squash court, and a dance studio. The site also states that the 3G pitch opened in October 2024 and is used by local community clubs and leagues. For students, the implication is straightforward, PE, fixtures, and clubs can run with higher quality infrastructure than many schools can offer.

A third pillar is electives and academic support. The published electives examples include Chess Club, CAD Club, Pride Club, Drama Club, Warhammer Club, and targeted academic sessions such as MathsBoost. This matters because it suggests the co-curricular programme is not only sport and performing arts, it also contains structured academic catch-up or stretch options.

Finally, service is operationalised rather than symbolic. The Duke of Edinburgh volunteering hours reported over 2024 to 2025 provide tangible evidence that enrichment is expected to produce real-world contribution.

The school day timetable published by the school indicates a start at 8:30am, with the end of the school day at 3:20pm Monday to Thursday and 2:35pm on Friday.

For travel, the school directs families to Transport for Greater Manchester for bus, ticketing, and travel guidance, and its open evening guidance advises limited parking, encouraging public transport or walking where possible.

The school also describes itself as cashless for meals, trips, and activities, using the My Child at School payment system, which is worth factoring into practical planning.

• Inspection recency and context. The most recent graded inspection outcome for the predecessor school was Requires improvement (October 2019). The current academy URN has an academy conversion letter dated September 2023, but no newer graded inspection outcome is listed on the Ofsted reports page for the open academy at the time of writing.

• Admission pressure. With 528 applications and 257 offers in the most recent admissions dataset, competition is a real factor for Year 7 entry. Families should treat open evenings as only the start of due diligence and read the admissions policy carefully.

• Structured expectations. Behaviour systems include clear escalation and detention patterns. This tends to suit students who respond well to consistency, while those who struggle with boundaries may need to understand support pathways early.

• Friday finish time. A 2:35pm finish on Friday can be helpful for appointments or weekend travel, but it can also require planning for working families.

Priestnall School presents as a large, community-facing 11–16 academy with a clear Laurus Trust identity, structured enrichment, and a progress profile that suggests students do well relative to starting points. The strongest practical markers are the published curriculum structure, the breadth of electives, and the scale of on-site sport facilities. Best suited to families who want a comprehensive intake, clear behaviour routines, and a school that expects participation beyond lessons, while also recognising that Year 7 entry is competitive and inspection evidence is currently anchored to the predecessor school’s 2019 graded outcome.