State secondary schools in Liverpool
33 schools · North West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures
Liverpool has 33 state secondaries, 29 of them with sixth forms, 1 grammar school among them. 68.1% of families got their first choice last year, worse than most of England. Results run from 11.9% to 97.7% passing English and maths, a spread of 86 points, with a middle school at 38%, below England's 45.4%.
Of those Ofsted has graded, 2 rated Outstanding, 15 Good, 6 Requires improvement, 1 Inadequate. 9 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.
Liverpool against England
State-funded schools, 2024/25
Getting a place
2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Liverpool
68.1%
Got their first choiceof those who applied
England 84%
86.1%
Got one of their threefirst, second or third
0.1%
Got no offer at allfrom any preference
9%
Appeals upheld58 of 614 heard
These are figures for Liverpool as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works
How much the choice matters here
Across Liverpool's 31 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 12% to 98%. That is a spread of 86 percentage points, wider than most councils.
The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.
Liverpool schools, subject by subject
The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.
- 1 Archbishop Blanch CofE High School Liverpool · 23 entries 100%
- 2 St Edward's College Liverpool · 21 entries 100%
- 3 The Blue Coat School Liverpool · 38 entries 100%
- 4 St Julie's Catholic High School Liverpool · 43 entries 100%
- 5 The Belvedere Academy Liverpool · 42 entries 98%
- 6 Archbishop Beck Catholic College Liverpool · 67 entries 97%
- 7 North Liverpool Academy Liverpool · 52 entries 96%
- 8 St Hilda's Church of England High School Liverpool · 20 entries 95%
- 9 Holly Lodge Girls' College Liverpool · 33 entries 91%
- 10 Liverpool College Liverpool · 43 entries 91%
- 11 Gateacre School Liverpool · 82 entries 90%
- 12 King David High School Liverpool · 30 entries 90%
- 13 The Academy of St Nicholas Liverpool · 33 entries 88%
- 14 Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Liverpool · 96 entries 82%
- 15 St Margaret's Church of England Academy Liverpool · 27 entries 81%
- 16 Calderstones School Liverpool · 43 entries 81%
- 17 Broughton Hall Catholic High School Liverpool · 82 entries 81%
- 18 The Studio School Liverpool Liverpool · 38 entries 79%
- 19 Notre Dame Catholic Academy Liverpool · 49 entries 71%
- 20 Bellerive FCJ Catholic College Liverpool · 24 entries 71%
- 21 Liverpool Life Sciences UTC Liverpool · 27 entries 70%
- 22 Dixons Fazakerley Academy Liverpool · 34 entries 62%
- 23 Alsop High School Liverpool · 51 entries 57%
- 24 The Academy of St Francis of Assisi Liverpool · 29 entries 45%
- 25 King's Leadership Academy, Liverpool Liverpool · 40 entries 35%
- 26 Childwall Sports & Science Academy Liverpool · 42 entries 33%
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Every school in Liverpool
Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.
4 of 31 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.
- Alsop High School Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 12%
- Attainment 8
- 28.2
- Absence
- 45%
- Archbishop Beck Catholic College Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 35%
- Attainment 8
- 41.5
- Absence
- 25%
- Archbishop Blanch CofE High School Liverpool · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 68%
- Attainment 8
- 57
- Absence
- —
- Bellerive FCJ Catholic College Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 42%
- Attainment 8
- 47.3
- Absence
- 23%
- Broughton Hall Catholic High School Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 24%
- Attainment 8
- 39.2
- Absence
- 28%
- Calderstones School Liverpool · Good. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 43%
- Attainment 8
- 46.1
- Absence
- 19%
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 29%
- Attainment 8
- 40.9
- Absence
- 21%
- Childwall Sports & Science Academy Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 27%
- Attainment 8
- 36.2
- Absence
- 27%
- Dixons Broadgreen Academy Liverpool · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 21%
- Attainment 8
- 34.4
- Absence
- 27%
- Dixons Croxteth Academy Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 16%
- Attainment 8
- 31.6
- Absence
- 36%
- Dixons Fazakerley Academy Liverpool · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 20%
- Attainment 8
- 33.4
- Absence
- 40%
- Gateacre School Liverpool · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 29%
- Attainment 8
- 37.8
- Absence
- —
- Holly Lodge Girls' College Liverpool · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 45%
- Attainment 8
- 47.2
- Absence
- 26%
- King David High School Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 68%
- Attainment 8
- 54.3
- Absence
- 17%
- King's Leadership Academy Wavertree Liverpool · No inspection outcome published.
- Eng & maths
- —
- Attainment 8
- —
- Absence
- —
- King's Leadership Academy, Liverpool Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 22%
- Attainment 8
- 34.5
- Absence
- 28%
- LIPA School Liverpool · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- —
- Attainment 8
- —
- Absence
- 34%
- Liverpool College Liverpool · Outstanding.
- Eng & maths
- 66%
- Attainment 8
- 55.1
- Absence
- 9%
- Liverpool Life Sciences UTC Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 46%
- Attainment 8
- 46.3
- Absence
- 22%
- North Liverpool Academy Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 38%
- Attainment 8
- 45.6
- Absence
- 13%
- Notre Dame Catholic Academy Liverpool · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 22%
- Attainment 8
- 31
- Absence
- 42%
- St Edward's College Liverpool · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 62%
- Attainment 8
- 51.6
- Absence
- 19%
- St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy Liverpool · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 32%
- Attainment 8
- 36.7
- Absence
- 29%
- St Hilda's Church of England High School Liverpool · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
- Eng & maths
- 65%
- Attainment 8
- 51.8
- Absence
- 15%
- St John Bosco Arts College Croxteth · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 20%
- Attainment 8
- 39.4
- Absence
- 24%
- St Julie's Catholic High School Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 42%
- Attainment 8
- 46.9
- Absence
- 22%
- St Margaret's Church of England Academy Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 54%
- Attainment 8
- 49.6
- Absence
- 16%
- The Academy of St Francis of Assisi Liverpool · Requires improvement.
- Eng & maths
- 23%
- Attainment 8
- 35.8
- Absence
- 26%
- The Academy of St Nicholas Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 20%
- Attainment 8
- 29.4
- Absence
- 33%
- The Belvedere Academy Liverpool · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
- Eng & maths
- 60%
- Attainment 8
- 53.8
- Absence
- 16%
- The Blue Coat School Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 98%
- Attainment 8
- 79.5
- Absence
- 3%
- The Studio School Liverpool Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 38%
- Attainment 8
- 39.4
- Absence
- 29%
- West Derby School Liverpool · Good.
- Eng & maths
- 42%
- Attainment 8
- 42
- Absence
- 19%
Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.
Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25
A levels in Liverpool
27 of Liverpool's 29 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.
- The Blue Coat School A- 58%
- North Liverpool Academy B- 38%
- West Derby School C+ 30%
- Archbishop Beck Catholic College C+ 28%
- Liverpool College C+ 26%
- King David High School C+ 25%
- Archbishop Blanch CofE High School B- 24%
- The Belvedere Academy C 16%
- St Edward's College C+ 16%
- St Margaret's Church of England Academy C 14%
- St Hilda's Church of England High School C+ 13%
- St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy C 12%
- The Studio School Liverpool C+ 11%
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School C- 10%
- Liverpool Life Sciences UTC D+ 9%
- Calderstones School C- 7%
- St Julie's Catholic High School D+ 3%
- Broughton Hall Catholic High School C- 2%
- Alsop High School D+ 0%
- Bellerive FCJ Catholic College C- 0%
- Dixons Broadgreen Academy D+ 0%
- Gateacre School C 0%
- Holly Lodge Girls' College C- 0%
- St John Bosco Arts College Croxteth D+ 0%
- The Academy of St Nicholas D- 0%
- Childwall Sports & Science Academy C —
- Notre Dame Catholic Academy C- —
A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.
Bordering Liverpool
Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.
What these mean
- Attainment 8
- The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
- Grades 4 and 5
- GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
- Persistent absence
- The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
- First preference
- The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
- Spare places
- The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
- Average A-level grade
- The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.