Six Chester area schools published 2026 GCSE figures. All of them here, with the national benchmark that makes them readable, and a borough number falling.

More than 3,700 young people in Cheshire West and Chester collected exam results on Thursday 20 August, according to the council. That statement is the only borough-wide account of GCSE day, and it carries no figures at all: no pass rate, no grade profile, no comparison with last year.

So this is built from the schools instead. Six in the Chester Online area published their own 2026 GCSE results on their own websites. We have set each one out below, exactly as the school reported it, then given the national benchmarks that make those numbers readable.

One warning before the list. The schools are not measuring the same thing. Some report the percentage of grades at a level, some the percentage of students. Some lead on English and maths together, some on the whole grade profile. Two of the six are fee-charging and select their intake. Reading these as a league table would be wrong, and we have not ranked them.

We also do not name individual students. Every school published lists of high achievers, and they are worth a look on the school’s own page.

The King’s School, Chester

The independent school on Wrexham Road reports that 28 per cent of all grades were awarded at grade 9, the highest available. It puts 53 per cent of grades at 9 or 8 and 72 per cent at 9 to 7.

Seven departments recorded more than 60 per cent of grades at 9 or 8, and 11 departments put 70 per cent or more of their grades at 9 to 7. Religious studies was the strongest, at 90 per cent of grades at 9 or 8.

Luke Rogers, who has just taken over as Head, said the results “provide a strong foundation for our pupils as they embark on their Sixth Form studies”.

The Queen’s School, Chester

The independent girls’ school reports 80 per cent of all grades at 9 to 6, including 58 per cent at 9 to 7. Almost three quarters of the year group, 73 per cent, achieved at least one grade 9 or 8.

By subject, the school says:

  • seven subjects returned 100 per cent of grades at 9 to 6, of which it names art, classical civilisation, computing, French, Mandarin and religious studies
  • every music candidate was awarded a grade 8 or 9
  • religious studies put 90 per cent of grades at 9 to 7, design and technology 90 per cent at 9 to 6
  • English language and English literature both recorded a 100 per cent pass rate, with 82 and 87 per cent of grades at 9 to 6
  • mathematics recorded a 100 per cent pass rate, with 71 per cent of grades at 9 to 6
  • 71 per cent of all science grades were at 9 to 6, rising to 80 per cent in dual award science

Queen’s Park High School, Handbridge

Queen’s Park describes its strongest ever GCSE outcomes at grades 9 to 7, 9 to 5 and 9 to 4, and the greatest number of grade 9s in the school’s history. Half of all students achieved at least one grade 7 or above.

The school says more students than ever achieved strong passes in both English and maths, and that the proportions reaching grade 4 and above and grade 5 and above in those subjects exceeded the national averages. It does not publish the percentages themselves.

Executive Headteacher Tom Kearns called the results “an exciting sign of the continued success of Queen’s Park High School”. The school is opening new purpose-built sixth form facilities in the autumn term.

Upton-by-Chester High School

Upton reports that more than 80 per cent of its learners achieved the expected standard in both English and mathematics, which it calls one of the strongest sets of results in the school’s history.

Headteacher Lee Cummins said: “Behind every grade is a young person who has worked hard, overcome challenges and shown real commitment to their education.”

Christleton High School

Christleton publishes three figures, the fullest set from any state school in the area:

  • almost a third of all GCSE entries awarded grades 9 to 7
  • 68 per cent of all entries awarded grades 9 to 5
  • 82 per cent of students achieved at least a grade 4

Headteacher Kevin Smith said the school was “equally pleased for those students who have made exceptional progress, overcome personal challenges and secured the qualifications they need for the next stage of their education”.

Helsby High School

Helsby reports that over three quarters of all students achieved a grade 4 or above in English and in maths, and that over half the year group achieved a grade 5 or above in those two subjects.

Headteacher Martin Hill said students “have performed strongly across all areas of the school’s curriculum”. Ten students achieved a grade 9 in two or more subjects.

The national picture, on the right basis

This is where most results-day coverage goes wrong, so it is worth being careful.

Ofqual publishes two England figures, and they are four points apart. Across all ages, 67.0 per cent of GCSE results were at grade 4 and above this summer and 21.8 per cent at grade 7 and above. Restrict it to 16-year-olds only, which is what a school’s Year 11 cohort actually is, and it rises to 70.7 per cent and 23.1 per cent. The gap is resits: a quarter of everyone who received a GCSE result this summer sat exactly one subject.

The all-ages number is the one councils and press releases usually reach for, and it flatters a school by about four points. The 16-year-old figure is the fair one.

For the North West, Ofqual’s tables give 63.9 per cent at grade 4 and above across all ages, and 67.9 per cent for 16-year-olds. Both are the second lowest of the nine English regions. At grade 7 and above the region recorded 18.9 per cent all ages and 20.1 per cent for 16-year-olds, against 28.6 and 30.2 per cent in London.

Bar chart of the percentage of GCSE results at grade 4 and above, summer 2026: England all ages 67.0 per cent, England 16-year-olds 70.7 per cent, North West all ages 63.9 per cent, North West 16-year-olds 67.9 per cent, London 16-year-olds 75.5 per cent. Source: Ofqual qualification results in England, summer 2026, tables 19a and 19b
Graphic by Chester Online.
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There is one more benchmark worth knowing, because it explains why the independent schools’ numbers look so different. Ofqual also breaks results down by centre type. Grammar schools recorded 97.4 per cent of results at grade 4 and above this summer and independent schools 88.4 per cent, against 68.6 per cent at local authority comprehensives and 68.2 per cent at academies. Further education colleges recorded 17.6 per cent and sixth form colleges 32.2 per cent, but those are resit centres rather than failing institutions, and reading them as a league table would be meaningless.

Ofqual publishes no local authority breakdown, for GCSE or A level. There is an interactive map, but grades on it are assigned by the postcode of the exam centre rather than where the student lives, and the underlying figures cannot be downloaded. So there is no official Cheshire West GCSE percentage for this summer, from anyone. That is the honest reason the council’s statement carried none.

The borough figure nobody quoted

There is a Cheshire West number, though it is a year behind, and it is not a happy one.

The Department for Education publishes the measure most parents actually mean by a pass: the percentage of pupils getting grade 4 or above in both English and maths. On that basis, from the DfE’s own statistics, Cheshire West and Chester recorded:

Year Cheshire West and Chester England North West
2022/23 65.6% 65.1% 62.4%
2023/24 63.6% 65.0% 62.1%
2024/25 62.8% 64.8% 62.3%

The borough has fallen three years running. In 2022/23 it was half a point ahead of England; by last summer it was two points behind, and only half a point clear of a region that sits second from bottom nationally.

The same pattern shows on the DfE’s own headline measure, grade 5 or above in both subjects. Cheshire West recorded 44.0 per cent in 2022/23, 43.5 per cent in 2023/24 and 42.4 per cent in 2024/25, while England went 45.3, 45.9 and 45.4 per cent. The borough fell in each of the three years; England did not.

That is last year’s cohort, not the one that collected results on Thursday. The DfE’s 2024/25 edition was published on 23 April 2026, and the next one, covering this summer, is not due until October. So nobody can say yet whether the run has stopped. It is the number to watch when it lands, and it is the reason the individual school figures above are worth reading closely rather than skimming.

It also puts the school announcements in proportion. Upton’s “more than 80 per cent in both English and maths” and Helsby’s “over three quarters” are, on the face of it, a long way above a borough that managed 62.8 per cent last year. The measures are close but not identical, so treat that as a strong signal rather than an exact comparison.

What it means for you

If you think a grade is wrong, go through the school, not the exam board. A clerical re-check or a review of marking is requested by the centre that entered you, with the student’s written consent. Under the Joint Council for Qualifications rules, both close on 24 September 2026 for GCSE: 10 calendar days for a clerical re-check, 20 for a review of marking. The priority service that ran on 20 August covers A level, AS and Level 3 vocational qualifications only, so do not wait on it for a GCSE. Ring the school even in the holidays; exams officers work through results fortnight for exactly this.

A grade can go down as well as up. There is no grade protection on a review of marking. Ask the school what it thinks before you request one.

Resits are in November. English language and maths are the two GCSEs most students retake, and entries go through a school or college rather than direct. If your child missed a grade 4 in either, ask their new sixth form, college or employer about a November entry before term starts, not after.

Sixth form places are still moving. Queen’s Park says very few places remain for September and asks students to email the school; Christleton welcomes new Year 12 students on Wednesday 2 September and is urging those already enrolled to confirm. If a plan has changed since Thursday, call now rather than in the first week of term.

If you are new to the area and choosing a school, the borough figures above are a better guide than a single year’s results-day announcement, and our Chester planning news page covers the school places attached to new housing schemes across the district.

Sources

Other secondary schools in the area, including in Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Winsford and Neston, had not published their own 2026 GCSE figures on their websites when this was written. We report results only from a school’s own announcement, so we have left those out rather than repeat numbers we cannot check at source. If your school has published since, tell us and we will add it.