West Kirby Grammar School

West Kirby Grammar School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all inspected areas. Pupils and students exhibit confidence and a passion for learning, benefiting from a supportive and respectful environment where they thrive academically. The school, having not been inspected previously under section 5, demonstrates a commitment to increasing the depth of its curriculum, especially at the key stage 3 level, which enhances students' education and engagement. Feedback indicates a strong sense of belonging among students, with an emphasis on personal development and mental health support.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a safe and respectful environment.
• The curriculum is broad and suitably ambitious.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and deliver the curriculum effectively.
• Pupils and students achieve high academic success.
• Leaders are passionate about creating scholars of the future.
• Pupils benefit from extensive extra-curricular activities.
• Effective support for pupils with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subject leaders do not check the effectiveness of curriculum delivery.
• In a few subjects, assessment systems do not effectively identify learning gaps.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at West Kirby Grammar School attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 13.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.6% of pupils at West Kirby Grammar School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 West Kirby Grammar School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 8.6% of pupils at West Kirby Grammar School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 West Kirby Grammar School received £6,668 and spent £6,668 for each of its 1,186 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,472,000 (£1,241 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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What is West Kirby Grammar School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for West Kirby Grammar School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was West Kirby Grammar School last inspected by Ofsted?

West Kirby Grammar School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does West Kirby Grammar School have?

West Kirby Grammar School has 1,181 pupils on roll.

What age range does West Kirby Grammar School cover?

West Kirby Grammar School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are West Kirby Grammar School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 68.6, and 91% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is West Kirby Grammar School?

West Kirby Grammar School is at Graham Road, West Kirby, Wirral, Merseyside, CH48 5DP.