Dean Trust Wigan Review 2026: An improving academy with clear routines and an ambitious curriculum

This is a secondary school that is candid about being on an improvement journey, and it reads like a school that is doing the hard, practical work rather than chasing quick fixes. The priorities are clear: raise expectations, embed calm routines, tighten teaching consistency, and get attendance up. The daily structure is explicit, from an early breakfast offer to a tightly timetabled teaching day, with extra curricular activity built into lunch and after school.

Leadership has also had a recent reset. Mrs Jennifer Evans has been headteacher since September 2023, which matters because much of the school’s current direction, including the push for consistent classroom practice and stronger personal development, sits within her tenure.

Academic performance indicators currently sit below the England picture overall, and admissions demand is competitive without being extreme. For families, the key question is fit: whether a structured, tightening culture, with a strong focus on attendance and clear expectations, suits your child’s temperament and needs.

The tone is purposeful. Pupils are expected to arrive ready to learn, and the day is designed to reinforce that habit. A supervised Breakfast Club starts at 08:00, and pupils are expected to be in form rooms by 08:40, with the timetable then running through to 15:10. The site remains open later in the afternoon, with published opening hours extending to 16:30 on weekdays, which aligns with the school’s emphasis on routines, support, and enrichment beyond lessons.

Behaviour expectations are framed through a simple set of standards, with an emphasis on readiness, respect, and responsibility. These are not abstract values, they are used as day to day anchors for learning behaviour and classroom culture. The effect, when it is working well, is calmer classrooms and more time spent on learning rather than disruption.

There is also a visible push to make pupils feel heard and involved. The wider culture includes opportunities for pupil leadership and practical projects, including pupil led initiatives such as a school allotment. This kind of initiative is more than a nice extra, it is a test of whether personal development is being translated into shared responsibility and pride in the environment.

Finally, there is a strong community thread. School communications highlight partnerships and local engagement, from links with local sport and community organisations to practical charity activity. These details matter because they show what the school is prioritising when it is not talking about grades, namely belonging, participation, and showing up consistently.

The academic picture is currently challenging at GCSE level, and it is important to read the data in that light. On FindMySchool’s GCSE outcomes ranking (based on official performance data), the school is ranked 3,696th in England and 12th in Wigan. This places it below England average overall, within the bottom 40% of schools in England on this measure.

Progress 8 is currently -1.12. In plain terms, this indicates that, on average, students make substantially less progress than similar pupils nationally from their starting points across eight subjects. That is a serious signal and aligns with the school’s stated focus on improving the consistency of teaching and learning across classrooms.

Attainment 8 is 31.4 and the EBacc average point score is 2.98. Those are both indicators that outcomes, across the full cohort, are not yet where the school wants them to be. The more useful question for families is trajectory: whether the current improvements in curriculum design, routines, attendance work, and teaching support are translating into stronger progress over time.

What helps interpret this is the school’s emphasis on an ambitious curriculum, with careful sequencing of knowledge and vocabulary across subjects. The design work is important, but outcomes depend on consistent classroom delivery and regular checking of what pupils have learned and retained.

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub page and the Comparison Tool to view GCSE measures side by side, including Progress 8, Attainment 8, and the local ranking context, rather than relying on headline judgements alone.

The curriculum direction is ambitious and structured. Subject planning is designed so that students build knowledge in a logical sequence, with clarity about what must be learned, and when. That approach usually benefits pupils who need predictability in learning, because it reduces gaps and repetition and helps teachers align expectations across year groups.

The issue, at present, is variation in classroom practice. Some students receive teaching that consistently builds on prior knowledge; others experience weaker delivery, which can leave understanding insecure and gaps unaddressed. The practical implication for parents is that support at home, especially around homework routines and reading, can make a noticeable difference for some pupils while the school continues to tighten consistency.

Reading is a current development area. The school has started steps to promote a stronger reading culture and identifies pupils who need support, with targeted programmes to help them catch up. The direction is positive, but it is still embedding, and families with children who are reluctant readers should ask specifically how reading is monitored and supported across Years 7 to 9, not only in intervention groups.

Students with special educational needs and disabilities are identified quickly, and staff are equipped with information to adapt teaching. A key indicator to look for, when speaking with the school, is how consistently adaptations show up across different subjects, and how the school checks that adjustments are working in practice, not just recorded on paper.

As an 11 to 16 school, post 16 progression is a central part of its purpose, even without an on site sixth form. Careers education is positioned as a practical programme designed to support decision making about next steps, with engagement from colleges and training providers and a focus on helping pupils understand pathways including technical routes and apprenticeships.

Because published, comparable destination percentages are not available here in the current public dataset, families should treat this as a “questions to ask” area. Useful prompts include: which local post 16 providers are most common destinations, how Year 11 guidance is delivered for pupils at different attainment levels, and what support is available for students who are undecided or at risk of becoming not in education, employment, or training.

Admissions for Year 7 are coordinated through Wigan Local Authority, even though the school is its own admissions authority. For September 2026 entry, the published admission number is 205. Offers are made through the coordinated process, with the offer date aligned to national allocation day.

Key dates for 2026 entry are clearly set out by Wigan Council. Applications open on 12 September 2025, the closing date is 31 October 2025, and national allocation day falls on 1 March. In 2026, because 1 March is a Sunday, offer information is sent on the next working day, 2 March 2026.

The oversubscription criteria follow a familiar structure: looked after and previously looked after children first, then siblings, then children of staff with two years’ continuous service, then distance to the school (straight line measurement to the main entrance, using local authority mapping data).

Demand is present, but the recent recorded ratio suggests a school that is only slightly over capacity in applicant volume. The latest admissions data shows 139 applications and 134 offers for the Year 7 route, which equates to about 1.04 applications per place. The practical implication is that listing the school as a preference is sensible for families who want it, but distance and priority criteria will still matter, particularly if demand rises in a future year.

Families considering the school should use the FindMySchool Map Search to check their exact distance from the gate and to understand how distance based allocations can behave year to year, even when overall applicant volumes are not extreme.

The current pastoral direction is built around safety, routines, and consistency. Students are expected to understand behaviour norms and meet raised expectations, with a focus on calm classrooms and orderly learning. That approach often benefits pupils who thrive in clear structure and predictable boundaries.

Attendance is a key pressure point. The school has made efforts to improve attendance, but a significant minority of pupils still miss school regularly, which directly affects learning progress. For parents, this is both a warning and an opportunity: if your child is typically a reliable attender, they are likely to benefit more quickly from curriculum improvements; if attendance has been a challenge previously, you will want to understand the school’s day to day approach to attendance support and escalation.

Personal development is positioned as central, but still embedding in full. There are positive features, including opportunities for student voice and leadership, but consistency matters here as much as it does in teaching. Families should ask how topics such as respectful disagreement, inclusion, and online safety are revisited across year groups, not just taught once.

The latest Ofsted report (October 2023) judged the school Requires Improvement overall and confirmed safeguarding arrangements are effective, which is an important baseline for families weighing the school’s improvement journey.

Extracurricular life is used as a practical lever for engagement and belonging, not as window dressing. The school day itself contains a clear enrichment slot at lunch, and school communications emphasise participation in clubs after school between 15:10 and 16:10. This is useful for working parents, but it is also a behavioural strategy, students who feel connected are more likely to attend and persist.

Sport is a visible strand. There is structured morning football on a multi use games area (MUGA) running from 07:55 on Monday to Thursday, which is an unusually specific offer for pupils who benefit from a strong start to the day. Links with local sport and community organisations reinforce that sport is used as both enrichment and character development.

Beyond sport, there are concrete examples of practical clubs and themed enrichment. Recent school materials reference Cookery Club and Darts Club, alongside a broader club timetable that includes creative and language focused options such as Art club and Duolingo based language activity. The point is not the labels, it is the intent: create reasons to show up, build skills, and make school feel more than a timetable of lessons.

Environmental and community activity also shows through. The school allotment project is a good example, a pupil led initiative that develops responsibility and creates a tangible contribution to the school environment. Charitable activity, such as food bank appeals, further reinforces that the school is trying to build a culture of contribution and shared expectations.

The school publishes a clear daily structure. Breakfast Club starts at 08:00; pupils are expected in form rooms by 08:40; the formal teaching day runs to 15:10, and the site’s weekday opening hours are published as 08:00 to 16:30.

For families planning logistics, the most useful next step is to confirm after school supervision expectations for specific clubs (some will end earlier, some run later) and to check how transport and late collection is handled. For term dates and non teaching days, the school indicates alignment with Wigan term date patterns, but families should confirm each year directly with the school, particularly for INSET variations.

• Progress 8 remains a concern. A Progress 8 score of -1.12 indicates that students, on average, are not yet making the progress expected from their starting points. This makes teaching consistency and attendance especially important for any child who is academically borderline or lacks confidence.

• Attendance culture is a defining factor. The school is explicit that attendance drives outcomes, and a significant minority of pupils still miss school regularly. Families should be realistic about whether they can support reliable attendance and punctuality every day.

• Personal development is still embedding. The direction is clear, with pupil leadership opportunities and a wider programme, but consistency matters. Parents should ask how the school checks that key messages about respect, inclusion, and tolerance are being understood across year groups.

• Extracurricular breadth exists, but engagement is the differentiator. Clubs run across breakfast, lunch, and after school. The benefit is greatest for pupils who will participate rather than go straight home, so consider whether your child is likely to opt in.

Dean Trust Wigan is best understood as a school in active improvement, with a clear operational focus on routines, curriculum ambition, and raising expectations. The foundations are visible: calm classroom routines, structured days, a push for enrichment and belonging, and leadership that has been in place since September 2023.

Who it suits: students who respond well to clear boundaries, benefit from predictable routines, and whose families can reinforce attendance, punctuality, and steady homework habits. The main challenge is that academic outcomes, especially progress measures, still need to catch up with the school’s ambitions.