Woodchurch High School

Woodchurch High School is a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are valued and are making strong progress through the current curriculum. Inspectors found calm and considerate behaviour, positive attitudes to learning and effective safeguarding. The school has taken decisive action to improve curriculum design, staff expertise, middle leadership and attendance processes, and current pupils are achieving well. Published outcomes for pupils who left in 2024 showed progress broadly in line with the national average, although attainment was significantly below average because of earlier weaker curriculum provision and high absence. The school’s values are evident in daily life, and pupils benefit from a wide range of trips, leadership opportunities and practical experiences, including the school farm. Reading support is effective for pupils who join the school struggling to read, and the school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain through careers education, diversity work and safety education. Governance and staff development have been strengthened, and staff morale is good. There are still areas to improve. Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in a small number of subjects, and some learning activities do not help pupils retain knowledge over time. In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding well enough, so gaps in learning can go unnoticed. Attendance remains a major challenge, although the school has halted the decline and there are early signs of improvement. The school is part of a single-academy trust and has a specially resourced provision for 18 pupils with autism; this was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• Pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced autism provision, are well supported and integrated into school life
• Pupils are friendly, calm and considerate, and behaviour has improved through consistent application of the behaviour policy
• Staff create a safe environment where pupils trust staff and participate confidently in learning
• Current pupils are making strong progress through an improved curriculum
• Reading support helps pupils who struggle to read become fluent and confident
• The school provides a wide range of international trips, leadership opportunities and practical experiences such as the school farm
• Careers education is personalised and prepares pupils well for next steps
• Pupils learn to respect diversity and are prepared well for life in modern Britain
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Governance has been strengthened and provides greater oversight and accountability
• Staff benefit from a well-structured professional development programme and workload reduction has boosted morale
• Attendance processes have been overhauled and the decline in attendance has been halted, with early signs of improvement

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in a small number of subjects
• Some learning activities do not help pupils retain knowledge over time
• In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding effectively, so gaps in learning are not identified or addressed
• Attendance remains one of the school’s greatest challenges, despite recent improvements
• Published attainment for Year 11 pupils in 2024 was significantly below the national average, reflecting legacy curriculum weaknesses and high absence

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 Woodchurch High School attended 88.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.2% 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, 5.9% of pupils at Woodchurch 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 Woodchurch High School had 13.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.3% 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, 28.2% of pupils at Woodchurch High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 9.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 30 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 Woodchurch High School received £9,416 and spent £9,739 for each of its 1,419 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £4,717,000 (£3,324 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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What is Woodchurch High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Woodchurch High School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Woodchurch High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Woodchurch High School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Woodchurch High School have?

Woodchurch High School has 1,399 pupils on roll.

What age range does Woodchurch High School cover?

Woodchurch High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Woodchurch High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.5, and 29% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Woodchurch High School?

Woodchurch High School is at Carr Bridge Road, Woodchurch, Wirral, Merseyside, CH49 7NG.