Padgate Academy Review 2026: A community-focused secondary with strong personal development programmes

Padgate Academy is a mixed, state-funded secondary serving Padgate and the wider Warrington area for students aged 11 to 16. A clear theme runs through the school’s published messaging, high expectations, inclusion, and a strong emphasis on character alongside qualifications. The PRIDE values, Positivity, Resilience, Integrity, Determination, Endeavour, sit at the centre of this approach, shaping everything from behaviour routines to student leadership.

The May 2023 Ofsted inspection graded the school Good overall, with Good ratings across Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Leadership and Management. With demand outstripping supply in the most recent admissions round recorded, and a published Year 7 admission number of 180 for 2026 to 2027 entry, the practical challenge for many families is simply securing a place.

The school’s own language is unusually consistent across pages that cover leadership, culture, and student experience. The core message is that Padgate is designed to feel orderly and supportive, while remaining rooted in the local community. This matters for families weighing whether a school will “fit” a child who wants structure and clarity, rather than ambiguity around standards.

Padgate’s PRIDE values are presented not as a poster set, but as an organising framework for the way the school expects students to show up. Positivity is framed as a learned habit that supports optimism and creativity. Resilience is positioned as a practical life skill, not a slogan. Integrity is linked to ethical decision-making and responsibility, and Determination is defined through goal-setting and sustained effort. Endeavour is described as the drive to explore and aim high across both academic and wider life.

Leadership stability has been a recent theme in official commentary. Adam McMillan is named as Principal, and the May 2023 inspection noted that a new headteacher was appointed in September 2022. For parents, the most useful implication is that current routines and priorities are likely to reflect a post-2022 reset, with a deliberate push on attendance, behaviour consistency, and curriculum sequencing.

In 2023, the school was described as caring and welcoming, with specific reference to how new arrivals, including pupils who speak English as an additional language, are helped to settle in quickly. The same source emphasised inclusion for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, including those supported through a specially resourced provision. Taken together, this points to a school that is actively trying to be calm, structured, and inclusive, while maintaining clear boundaries.

At GCSE level, Padgate’s outcomes sit below England average in the FindMySchool performance profile. The school ranks 3,405th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data) and 13th within Warrington. This places the school in the lower tier of schools in England for GCSE performance, which, in plain terms, indicates below England average outcomes.

The underlying performance indicators reinforce that picture. The school’s Progress 8 score is -0.66, which indicates that, on average, students made less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points across the GCSE suite. The average EBacc average points score is 3.14, and 9.4% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in the English Baccalaureate measure reported here.

None of these figures should be read as destiny for an individual child, but they do matter in two ways. First, they help parents set realistic expectations about the level of independent study and support a student may need, particularly in the run-up to Year 11. Second, they help families compare local options fairly. If you are shortlisting schools across Warrington, FindMySchool’s Local Hub pages and Comparison Tool can help you line up rankings and key measures side-by-side, using the same definitions across schools.

A final nuance is important. The May 2023 inspection described a broad and ambitious curriculum that is carefully sequenced, with teachers typically using suitable approaches and resources. It also identified two specific improvement priorities that affect outcomes over time, checking learning with enough rigour in some subjects, and ensuring older pupils who struggle with reading receive the same systematic support that is being rolled out lower down the school. These are precisely the kinds of implementation details that often separate a school with improving outcomes from one that plateaus.

Padgate’s curriculum structure is presented clearly. At Key Stage 4, the core offer is English Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science, Personal Development, and Core Physical Education (non-exam). Students typically select four additional options to build out their GCSE and vocational suite. Options listed include Geography, History, Spanish, Religious Studies, Triple Science, Digital IT (Cambridge Nationals), Art, and Construction and the Built Environment (BTEC), among others.

The most useful way to interpret this is through breadth and pathways. For a student who learns best with a traditional academic balance, the presence of the humanities and languages offers a conventional route. For a student motivated by applied learning, options such as Construction and Built Environment and Digital IT signal that the school expects different kinds of learners and is willing to offer credible technical pathways inside the mainstream timetable. The implication is that families should treat options conversations as strategic, not cosmetic, and ask how the school supports students to choose a balanced suite aligned to post-16 plans.

Another distinctive thread is the way Padgate integrates careers and next-step thinking into the broader programme. The inspection described comprehensive careers support from Year 7 to Year 11, designed to prepare pupils for next steps. In practice, that can mean earlier exposure to technical and apprenticeship routes, which is increasingly valuable in a labour market that rewards early clarity.

Padgate does not have a sixth form, so progression at 16 is a central part of the school’s story. Rather than presenting a single default destination, the school curates information about multiple local post-16 providers, including Priestley College, Warrington and Vale Royal College, Cronton Sixth Form College, Riverside College, and St Helens College. That breadth matters because it signals an expectation that students will leave Year 11 with different aims, A-levels for some, vocational and technical programmes for others, plus apprenticeship routes for those ready to move into employment-linked training.

For families, the practical implication is that you should consider Year 10 and Year 11 planning as a three-part process. First, confirm the GCSE and vocational option suite supports the intended post-16 route. Second, look for evidence of structured guidance and employer engagement, particularly for students leaning towards technical pathways. Third, pay attention to timing, open events and application windows for colleges and training providers often start in the autumn before Year 11, which can feel early if you are used to sixth-form-at-the-school models.

Padgate is a state school with no tuition fees. Admissions for secondary transfer are coordinated through the local authority process, with applications for September 2026 entry opening on 01 September 2025 and closing on 31 October 2025. National offer day for this cycle is 02 March 2026, and appeals are lodged by 31 March 2026 in the published Warrington timetable.

Alongside the local authority process, the school sits within The Challenge Academy Trust’s determined admissions arrangements, which state a published admission number of 180 for Year 7 entry in 2026 to 2027. This number is useful because it tells families roughly how many places exist, even before you consider demand.

Demand is recorded as oversubscribed used here. In the latest admissions round captured, there were 266 applications and 141 offers, which equates to 1.89 applications per place on this measure. Where oversubscription exists, small changes in local demographics can change outcomes, so it is wise to treat historical demand as a signal, not a promise.

Parents who are making location decisions should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to check their precise distance to the school gates and keep an eye on local authority updates. If the school publishes any distance-based allocation outcomes for a given year, treat those as time-specific and avoid overconfidence, local demand shifts from year to year.

Padgate positions pastoral care as a core strength, and official inspection evidence supports a focus on inclusion and safety. The school is described as valuing diversity, prioritising learning about tolerance and respect, and taking action where bullying or harassment occurs, with pupils presented as confident to report concerns.

The school’s specially resourced provision for pupils with cognition and learning needs is part of that inclusion picture. In May 2023, the provision was described as having capacity for 14 pupils, with 15 pupils using it at that time, supported by highly trained staff and accessing the same high-quality curriculum as peers where appropriate. For families considering this pathway, the key question is implementation, how adaptations are made in mainstream lessons, how interventions are timetabled, and how progress is tracked so students are neither over-protected nor left behind.

The second pillar is attendance and routines. The 2023 inspection noted that leaders had identified the impact of poor attendance historically and had implemented strategies that were improving attendance, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. That kind of operational focus is often what parents experience day-to-day, clear expectations, consistent follow-up, and a sense that the school notices when a child drifts.

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. In practical terms, parents should still ask how safeguarding education is delivered, especially around online safety and local risks, because these themes were explicitly referenced as part of what pupils learn through the curriculum.

Padgate’s enrichment offer is structured rather than purely ad hoc, and the school uses a specific framework, CAS, Creativity, Activity, and Society, to group opportunities in a coherent way. That matters because it helps students see enrichment as part of their development, not simply something for the already-confident.

In the May 2023 inspection, activities cited as supporting learning included trampolining, design club, and creative writing. The implication is that enrichment is not only sport-led, it includes practical and creative routes that can suit different student personalities, including those who do not define themselves as “sporty” but still need a positive identity in school.

The school also flags Cadets and Duke of Edinburgh as part of the enrichment line-up. Both are significant because they formalise leadership, service, and personal challenge. For some students, these programmes are the difference between simply attending school and feeling genuinely invested.

STEM

STEM is presented as a distinct strand with specific named experiences. Weekly STEM Club workshops are described as open to all students. The school also references an annual Year 9 STEM Sleep Over delivered with the University of Chester and Priestley College.

Beyond that, the STEM page lists a Rocket Day, links to workshops at Thornton Science Park, and participation in the Big Bang North West competition. There is also reference to employer-facing experiences and support, including engagement with Royal Air Force employees for female students, engineers working with students on practical engineering problems, and work experience links with Sellafield Ltd. The practical implication here is strong for families who want a school to widen horizons in engineering, science, and technical careers, especially if a student is motivated by doing rather than purely reading.

Sport and performance spaces

Facilities can shape extracurricular breadth, and Padgate’s facilities list is unusually specific. The school notes a floodlit 3G pitch, a sports hall, a gymnasium, and dedicated performance spaces including a drama hall and a named Phoenix Dance Studio with sprung flooring, mirrored wall, and ballet barre. There is also an enclosed tarmac area and a grass field, supporting both structured sport and informal activity.

The implication is straightforward, even in winter, when daylight limits many schools, floodlit facilities expand the realistic timetable for training and fixtures. For students who benefit from structured after-school routines, that matters.

The published school day structure runs Monday to Thursday from an 08.25 arrival and line-up, with lessons through to a 15.05 finish, and lunch and enrichment scheduled in the middle of the day. Friday follows a slightly different pattern, including a morning Professional Learning slot before students’ arrival and tutor-led personal development in Period 1.

For travel, Padgate is within the Padgate area of Warrington, and rail travel is a realistic option for some families, with Padgate station serving the local area on the Liverpool to Manchester line. For drivers, the school notes ample on-site parking in the context of facilities use, which usually signals manageable drop-off logistics compared with dense city-centre sites.

As a state school, there are no tuition fees. Families should still budget for the normal secondary extras, uniform, equipment, trips, and optional clubs, and ask for a clear breakdown early in Year 7 so costs do not surprise later.

• GCSE outcomes sit below England average in this profile. The Progress 8 score of -0.66 indicates that, on average, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally, which can translate into a need for consistent home routines and careful subject support in Years 10 and 11.

• Reading support is a stated improvement priority. The 2023 inspection identified that some older pupils were not receiving enough support to become confident, fluent readers, which can affect access across subjects that rely heavily on reading. Families should ask how literacy support is delivered beyond Key Stage 3.

• Admission can be competitive. The published Year 7 admission number is 180 for 2026 to 2027 entry, and the recorded demand profile indicates oversubscription. If you are applying for September 2026 entry, note the 31 October 2025 deadline.

• Some alternative provision usage was noted. In May 2023, leaders were recorded as using alternative provision for a small number of pupils, including one provider that was unregistered at the time. It is reasonable for parents to ask what quality assurance looks like when alternative placements are used, even if this is not relevant for most children.

Padgate Academy presents as a school that takes inclusion, safety, and personal development seriously, with a coherent values framework and a structured enrichment approach. The Good Ofsted profile in 2023 sits alongside performance measures that point to work still to do on outcomes, particularly around progress and literacy for older students.

Best suited to families who want a clear behavioural framework, a strong character programme, and credible technical and STEM enrichment, and who are prepared to support consistent study routines at home as GCSEs approach. Securing admission can be the primary hurdle, so early planning against the published local authority timetable is essential.