Formby High School

Formby High School is performing well across all areas evaluated, achieving a 'Good' rating overall during its first inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school fosters a welcoming and friendly environment that celebrates diversity, where pupils quickly settle into the community and feel safe and supported. With strong leadership, a vibrant curriculum, and positive relationships between staff and students, the school promotes high standards of learning and personal development among its pupils and students in the sixth form.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school community
• High expectations for learning and behaviour
• Strong leadership and management
• Supportive pastoral care and effective handling of bullying
• Rich and vibrant curriculum with a broad range of subjects
• Dedicated focus on reading and phonics support
• High standards of conduct among pupils
• Extensive extra-curricular activities available
• Well-structured careers education for sixth form students

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent use of assessments in some subjects to identify learning gaps
• PSHE curriculum lacks coherence and relevance for all pupils

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 Formby High School attended 90.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.9% 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, 2.9% of pupils at Formby High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Formby High School had 16.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.1% 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, 15.9% of pupils at Formby High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 34 pupils.

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 Formby High School received £7,837 and spent £8,032 for each of its 1,107 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £550,000 (£497 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.

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Liverpool · Sefton local authority: places and applications

What is Formby High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Formby High School is Good, from an inspection in December 2022.

When was Formby High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Formby High School was last inspected in December 2022.

How many pupils does Formby High School have?

Formby High School has 1,157 pupils on roll.

What age range does Formby High School cover?

Formby High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Formby High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.5, and 54% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Formby High School?

Formby High School is at Freshfield Road, Formby, Liverpool, Merseyside, L37 3HW.