Secondary schools in Wirral
Where pupils go after Year 11 and after sixth form, school by school, with GCSE results. Destinations are for the 2023 leavers; results are from 2025.
Wirral has 20 state-funded secondary schools. Of the 3,848 pupils who finished Year 11 here in 2023, 85% stayed in education (England 86%): 38% in a school sixth form, 19% at a sixth form college, 25% at a further education college.
3% started an apprenticeship, close to the England rate of 3%.
After sixth form, 39% of students in Wirral went to university (England 37%), and 23% of level 3 students reached one of the most selective universities (England 19%).
GCSE results in 2025: Attainment 8 of 45.3 against 46.1 for England; 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths (England 45%).
After Year 11: Wirral against England
| Measure | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 3,848 | 607,348 |
| Stayed in education | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 38% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 25% | 37% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 6% |
Where each school’s Year 11 leavers went
One band per school, sorted by the size of its 2023 Year 11 cohort. Band width is pupils; hover a band for the share, click a school for its profile. Counts are worked back from the percentages DfE publishes, so a band can be out by a pupil.
Map of secondary schools in Wirral
Darker blue means a larger share of Year 11 leavers stayed in education. Click a school for details. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
State-funded secondary schools (20)
Sorted by name. Click a school for its full picture. “Stayed in education” counts school sixth forms, sixth form colleges and FE colleges together.
| School | Pupils | Stayed in education | School sixth form | FE college | Apprenticeship | To university | Attainment 8 | 5+ Eng & maths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birkenhead High School AcademyAcademy sponsor led · sixth form | 1,226 | 92% | 44% | 8% | 1% | 47% | 50.5 | 45% |
| Birkenhead Park SchoolAcademy sponsor led | 731 | 71% | 2% | 44% | 2% | — | 39.9 | 30% |
| Calday Grange Grammar SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,493 | 95% | 74% | 5% | 2% | 60% | 68.1 | 93% |
| Co-op Academy BebingtonAcademy sponsor led · sixth form | 1,044 | 89% | 30% | 44% | 1% | 27% | 37.3 | 29% |
| Hilbre High SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form | 1,154 | 83% | 44% | 27% | 6% | 34% | 39.0 | 25% |
| Pensby High SchoolFoundation school · sixth form | 915 | 80% | 5% | 25% | 5% | — | 44.8 | 43% |
| Prenton High School for GirlsAcademy converter | 770 | 78% | 6% | 31% | 7% | — | 38.9 | 33% |
| Ridgeway High SchoolFoundation school | 858 | 69% | 2% | 47% | 9% | — | 39.2 | 25% |
| South Wirral High SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form | 1,019 | 84% | 23% | 45% | 4% | 40% | 37.4 | 28% |
| St Anselm's CollegeAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,002 | 89% | 63% | 6% | 5% | 77% | 57.2 | 76% |
| St John Plessington Catholic CollegeAcademy converter · sixth form | 1,556 | 82% | 36% | 34% | 6% | 48% | 37.2 | 29% |
| St Mary's Catholic College, A Voluntary AcademyAcademy sponsor led · sixth form | 1,073 | 77% | 42% | 28% | 6% | 44% | 33.2 | 17% |
| The Mosslands SchoolCommunity school · sixth form | 848 | 82% | 34% | 30% | 4% | 17% | 35.2 | 20% |
| The Oldershaw SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form | 774 | 77% | 28% | 32% | 2% | 27% | 28.0 | 12% |
| Upton Hall School FCJAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,004 | 98% | 74% | 2% | 0% | 72% | 65.6 | 88% |
| Weatherhead High SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form | 1,500 | 84% | 43% | 23% | 2% | 48% | 41.9 | 28% |
| West Kirby Grammar SchoolAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,181 | 96% | 77% | 2% | 1% | 64% | 71.3 | 96% |
| Wirral Grammar School for BoysAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,123 | 97% | 74% | 3% | 1% | 61% | 65.4 | 91% |
| Wirral Grammar School for GirlsAcademy converter · sixth form · selective | 1,224 | 96% | 72% | 3% | 1% | 68% | 69.3 | 92% |
| Woodchurch High SchoolAcademy converter | 1,399 | 80% | 6% | 48% | 2% | — | 37.9 | 28% |
Independent schools, colleges and special schools with published data (11)
| School | Pupils | Stayed in education | School sixth form | FE college | Apprenticeship | To university | Attainment 8 | 5+ Eng & maths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wirral Metropolitan Collegecollege · Further education | — | — | — | — | — | 6% | — | — |
| Birkenhead Schoolindependent · Other independent school · sixth form | 892 | — | — | — | — | — | 44.6 | 0% |
| Progress Schools - Hamilton Squareindependent · Other independent school | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | 4.7 | 0% |
| Birkenhead Sixth Form Collegesixth form · Academy 16-19 converter · sixth form | 0 | — | — | — | — | 53% | — | — |
| Clare Mount Specialist Sports Collegespecial · Community special school · sixth form | 461 | 85% | 0% | 38% | 0% | — | 19.8 | 7% |
| Foxfield Schoolspecial · Community special school · sixth form | 242 | 94% | 0% | 0% | 0% | — | — | — |
| IMPACT Northwest Schoolsspecial · Other independent special school | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | 10.0 | 0% |
| Kilgarth Schoolspecial · Community special school | 63 | 17% | 0% | 17% | 0% | — | 7.8 | 0% |
| Meadowside Schoolspecial · Community special school · sixth form | 114 | 94% | 0% | 0% | 0% | — | 0.3 | 0% |
| The Observatory Schoolspecial · Community special school | 174 | 45% | 0% | 35% | 5% | — | 5.9 | 0% |
| West Kirby School and Collegespecial · Non-maintained special school · sixth form | 115 | 92% | 8% | 8% | 0% | — | 16.7 | 8% |