Cowley International College
Community school · sixth form · 1,514 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.3
Other independent school · independent
Tower College
- Pupils on roll
- 279of 675 places
- Free school meals
- —
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 17
- Ofsted
- Not covered by Ofsted school inspections
What the data says
The Department for Education has not published where Tower College’s Year 11 leavers went next (destination measures are not published for independent schools), so this page relies on the school’s results and subjects.
65% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE in 2025 (England 45%). Attainment 8 is not comparable for independent schools, which often enter pupils for IGCSEs that the Department for Education does not count.
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 St. Helens and England.
The Department for Education has not published destination figures for this school (new school, small cohort or not a state-funded school).
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Tower College | St. Helens | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 56.1 | 41.8 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 65% | 36% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 57% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 34% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.93 | 3.59 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | — | 31% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | — | 30.2 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | — | 47.0 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | — | 5% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 17 | 100% | 86% | 18% | 21% | 82% |
| English Language | 17 | 100% | 89% | 41% | 20% | 88% |
| Biology | 16 | 94% | 23% | 31% | 45% | 88% |
| Mathematics | 16 | 94% | 88% | 19% | 22% | 81% |
| Religious Studies | 13 | 76% | 31% | 69% | 32% | 92% |
| Geography | 11 | 65% | 41% | 64% | 25% | 82% |
| History | 10 | 59% | 41% | 60% | 26% | 90% |
| Physics | 9 | 53% | 23% | 44% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 8 | 47% | 23% | 63% | 47% | 88% |
| Spanish | 6 | 35% | 19% | 17% | 27% | 50% |
| Fine Art | 6 | 35% | 9% | 50% | 28% | 100% |
| Computer Science | 5 | 29% | 13% | — | 30% | — |
| Physical Education | 4 | 24% | 11% | — | 24% | — |
| Chinese | 2 | 12% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
Where Tower College is
Other secondary schools in St. Helens are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from St. Helens’s allocation statistics.
Other secondary schools in St. Helens
De La Salle School
Academy sponsor led · 1,180 pupils
85% stayed in education
Hope Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,235 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.8
Outwood Academy Haydock
Academy sponsor led · 791 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.2
Rainford High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,646 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.6
Rainhill High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,535 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 45.9
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.