Cowley International College
Community school · sixth form · 1,514 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.3
Community special school
Willow Bank School
- Pupils on roll
- 70of 65 places
- Free school meals
- 70.0%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 11
- Ofsted
- Report card, 12 May 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Needs attentionAchievement Needs attentionAttendance and behaviour Needs attentionPersonal development and wellbeing Expected standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Expected standardPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
What the data says
Of the 11 pupils who finished Year 11 at Willow Bank School in 2023, 9% moved to a sixth form college, 45% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and none went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.
Willow Bank School is a special school: its GCSE figures (Attainment 8 of 4.8, 0% with grade 5 or above in English and maths) are published by DfE for completeness and are not comparable with mainstream schools.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in St. Helens and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Willow Bank School | St. Helens | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 11 | 1,990 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 55% | 88% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 55% | 82% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 18% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 9% | 25% | 13% |
| — further education college | 45% | 37% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 9% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 36% | 4% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Willow Bank School | St. Helens | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 4.8 | 41.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 36% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 57% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 34% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.32 | 3.59 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 64% | 31% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | — | 30.2 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | — | 47.0 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 0% | 5% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 7 | 64% | 89% | 0% | 20% | 0% |
| Fine Art | 6 | 55% | 9% | 0% | 28% | 33% |
| Geography | 5 | 45% | 41% | — | 25% | — |
| Combined Science | 5 | 45% | 65% | — | 9% | — |
| Mathematics | 4 | 36% | 88% | — | 22% | — |
Other secondary schools in St. Helens
De La Salle School
Academy sponsor led · 1,180 pupils
85% stayed in education
Hope Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,235 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.8
Outwood Academy Haydock
Academy sponsor led · 791 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.2
Rainford High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,646 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.6
Rainhill High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,535 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.9
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.