Aiming High: Life After Highfield

At Highfield Priory School we love to celebrate our former pupils who have aimed high gone onto achieve after leaving Highfield. Many of our successful alumni return each year with their children saying they have chosen Highfield because they want the same start to life as they and their peers had at Highfield.

Did you attend Highfield?

Visit our Alumni Page

University

A high percentage of children Pupils go on to top ranked universities, Russell Group and Oxbridge.

79.22% of pupils go to university after leaving Highfield.

40.26% of pupils go on to go to a Russell Group University after leaving Highfield.

3.90% of pupils go on to an Oxbridge University after leaving Highfield.

Careers

Many of our Alumni go onto have very successful professional careers as doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs.

9.58% of pupils go on to work in finance.

8.22% of pupils go on to work as an operations manager.

6.85% of pupils go on to be a company founder, CEO or director.

Arts & Music

We love to celebrate all achievements in the Arts. One former Highfield pupil has featured in Eastenders, Holby City & the Crown.

Sports

Many past pupils have recorded sporting success, national or regional honours in sports ranging from Rowing through to Rugby, Swimming, Tennis, Netball and Rugby.

5.41% of pupils go on to represent England or another nation after leaving Highfield.

Community

Each year former pupils are chosen to lead their Senior Schools as Head Boy and Head Girl. One former Highfield pupil is a current Preston City Council Cabinet Member.

_{*Figures are from leavers between 2007 & 2013 based on LinkedIn profiles, contact with former pupils and news articles.}

Achievements

Former Pupil Ben Riding has represented Great Britain at Waterpolo. Ben was part of the team that qualified for the European Championships in May 2018 and played in the Championships which took place in Belarus in September 2018. Great Britain were ranked 16th in Europe- the highest ranking for GB Waterpolo for 10 years.'

Former pupil Freddie Bailey has been a Preston City Councillor since 2018. In 2019 Freddie became Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building before being appointed as Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety in May 2023.

Former Highfield pupil Natalie Panagarry received a bronze medal in the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool after a strong campaign, topping their group and losing to eventual winners New Zealand. Natalie has also achieved success for her club as she captained Loughborough Lightning to victory in the Netball Super League in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Former Highfield Head Boy Matthew Wright was called up to Ireland Rugby's Under-18s squad for their game against Italy on 5th November 2022. Matthew made his debut for Ireland in Rome at the Under-18s Six Nations. Ireland secured a 43-10 victory with Matt helping to set up the last try. A fantastic achievement on what was the start of his increasingly successful international sporting career.

Oboist and former pupil Isabel Street secured a place in The National Youth Orchestra, ‘the world’s greatest orchestra of teenagers’. She will be joining an orchestra of teenage musicians from every corner of the UK, now including Lancashire. With The National Youth Orchestra, Isabel will be performing across the UK in some of the UK’s finest concert venues as well as helping to inspire and mentor other musicians. Isabel has been playing the oboe for 9 years, stating ‘I couldn’t have done this without the opportunities I was provided to develop as a musician at Highfield Priory’.

Katie Hale, a former pupil competed for Wales in the Home International Rowing Regatta on Lough Rynn in Ireland in July 2023. Katie’s team made a fast start and managed to hold on winning the gold. In September 2023 Katie competed in the the Beach Sprints at Saundersfoot in Wales. Her final against the European Champion was really tough.  Despite being neck and neck at the halfway point, Katie finished with a Silver medal; a great finish to her first ever Beach Sprint competition. With the Commonwealths around the corner in 2026 Katie has set herself a personal goal of trying to make the Welsh team again and represent her country in Australia.

In the 23-24 season former Highfield pupil and AFC Bournemouth footballer James Hill made his Premier League debut against West Ham United. James has also played for Blackburn Rovers, Heart of Midlothian and Fleetwood Town. James was Fleetwood Town's youngest ever first team player and their record sale. On 10 June 2022, James made his England U21 debut during a 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification 5–0 victory away to Kosovo.