Weatherhead High School

Weatherhead High School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across various domains during its first inspection in ten years. The school has managed to maintain a positive learning environment where pupils and staff express pride and mutual respect. With a strong commitment to high expectations in behaviour, the school fosters a calm atmosphere that enhances learning, and leaders have put in place an extensive, ambitious curriculum that accommodates all students, including those with special educational needs. The school also offers a rich extracurricular program that encourages leadership and personal growth among students.

Strengths

• Strong leader expectations for behaviour and academic success.
• Friendly and supportive learning community.
• Effective inclusion of students with special educational needs.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum designed for all students.
• High-quality personal development opportunities.
• Effective safeguarding measures and a strong culture of safety.
• Investment in reading development across the school.
• High staff commitment to reducing workload and improving educational quality.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent effectiveness in assessment strategies in some subjects.
• Some pupils have low attendance rates affecting their learning.

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 Weatherhead High School attended 88.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 31.1% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Weatherhead High 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 Weatherhead High School had 14.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.5% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Weatherhead High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.3% 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 Weatherhead High School received £8,483 and spent £8,414 for each of its 1,523 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £819,000 (£538 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 Wallasey · Wirral local authority: places and applications

What is Weatherhead High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Weatherhead High School is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

When was Weatherhead High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Weatherhead High School was last inspected in January 2023.

How many pupils does Weatherhead High School have?

Weatherhead High School has 1,500 pupils on roll.

What age range does Weatherhead High School cover?

Weatherhead High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Weatherhead High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.2, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Weatherhead High School?

Weatherhead High School is at Breck Rd, Wallasey, Merseyside, CH44 3HS.