Birkdale High School
Academy converter · 936 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 51.9
Academy sponsor led
Hillside High School
- Pupils on roll
- 785of 921 places
- Free school meals
- 56.9%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 130
- Ofsted
- Good, 19 September 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Hillside High School (URN 104946, until 9 January 2015).
What the data says
Hillside High School has no sixth form. Of the 128 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 3% moved to a sixth form college, 68% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.
13% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 23% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 39.8 against 46.1 across England and 42.9 in Sefton, with 35% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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 Sefton and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Hillside High School | Sefton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 128 | 3,063 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 80% | 89% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 79% | 83% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 7% | 25% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 3% | 2% | 13% |
| — further education college | 68% | 53% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 13% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 7% | 4% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Hillside High School | Sefton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 39.8 | 42.9 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 60% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 58% | 38% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.62 | 3.70 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 51% | 30% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 32.5 | 31.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 47.3 | 47.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 24% | 7% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 127 | 98% | 88% | 17% | 22% | 60% |
| English Language | 127 | 98% | 89% | 8% | 20% | 58% |
| English Literature | 117 | 90% | 86% | 15% | 21% | 60% |
| Combined Science | 89 | 68% | 65% | 2% | 9% | 44% |
| History | 77 | 59% | 41% | 12% | 26% | 44% |
| Spanish | 72 | 55% | 19% | 21% | 27% | 72% |
| Business Studies | 46 | 35% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 63% |
| Geography | 38 | 29% | 41% | 16% | 25% | 53% |
| Chemistry | 33 | 25% | 23% | 15% | 47% | 79% |
| Physics | 33 | 25% | 23% | 21% | 46% | 70% |
| Biology | 33 | 25% | 23% | 18% | 45% | 79% |
| Art and Design | 30 | 23% | 7% | 3% | 24% | 37% |
| 3D Design | 17 | 13% | 2% | 0% | 16% | 24% |
| Computer Science | 16 | 12% | 13% | 31% | 30% | 75% |
| Photography | 16 | 12% | 6% | 13% | 19% | 63% |
| Music | 10 | 8% | 5% | 10% | 33% | 70% |
| Design and Technology | 9 | 7% | 11% | 0% | 23% | 33% |
| Italian | 3 | 2% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Turkish | 3 | 2% | 0% | — | 71% | — |
| Modern Greek | 3 | 2% | 0% | — | 33% | — |
| Russian | 2 | 2% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Arabic | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Persian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Portuguese | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports / Movement Science | 37 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 31 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 15 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 8 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Sefton
Chesterfield High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,692 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.4
Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre
Voluntary aided school · sixth form · 822 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.8
Deyes High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,336 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.8
Formby High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,157 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 54.3
Greenbank High School
Academy converter · 1,025 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.6
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.