Lowton Church of England High School
Foundation school in Warrington, WA3 1DU, taking ages 11 to 16, 814 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.1 miles Wigan published for 2025/26, as the checker measures.
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Will an address get in?
In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.1 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Wigan school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.1 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
Lowton Church of England High School: 1.1 miles, 2025/26 Leigh Central Primary School: 0.38 miles, 2025/26, published by Wigan
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Lowton Church of England High School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children and faith criteria come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from Wigan. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Wigan, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where Lowton Church of England High School and Leigh Central Primary School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Leigh Central Primary School admitted from 0.38 miles in 2025/26, published by Wigan. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.1 and 0.38 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Leigh Central Primary School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Wigan, 30 of 192 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (15.6%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Lowton Church of England High School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilded Hollins Community School Both in reach | Primary | 0.78 mi 2025/26 | 0.3 mi |
| Lowton West Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.92 mi 2025/26 | 1.4 mi |
| Leigh Central Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.38 mi 2025/26 | 1.9 mi |
| Bedford Hall Methodist Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.29 mi 2025/26 | 2.1 mi |
| Newton Westpark Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.86 mi 2025/26 | 2.4 mi |
| St John's Church of England Primary School, Abram Both in reach | Primary | 1.35 mi 2025/26 | 3.4 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | Church of England |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 814 pupils in 850 places (96% full) |
| Local authority | Wigan |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 25 May 2023 |
| Attainment 8 | 47.5 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.17 |
| 2022/23 | -0.10 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Lowton Church of England High School
| Girls and boys | 50.6% girls, 49.4% boys |
| English as an additional language | 9.0% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 29.6% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Lowton Church of England High School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 0.7% |
| Sixth-form college | 42.0% |
| Further education college | 39.9% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% |
| Employment | 2.9% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 5.1% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
Getting to Lowton Church of England High School by bus
Best-served stop: Reeve Street, 119 yd away, with 8.3 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:01, last 00:00 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowton High School | 62 yd | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 988 |
| Reeve Street | 119 yd | 8.3 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 610, 34, 589, 665, 664, 984 |
| Reeve Street | 143 yd | 8.1 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 610, 34, 589, 664, 984, P6 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Lowton Church of England High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around WA3: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at WA3 1DU, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Lowton Church of England High School?
Lowton Church of England High School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2025/26 lived 1.1 miles away, per Wigan.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Lowton Church of England High School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.1 miles was enough in 2025/26. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Lowton Church of England High School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Wigan school's distance
All Wigan schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Lowton Church of England High School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Wigan. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.