Birkenhead High School Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,226 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.5
Foundation school
Ridgeway High School
- Pupils on roll
- 858of 885 places
- Free school meals
- 60.7%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 175
- Ofsted
- Good, 30 January 2024Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Ridgeway High School has no sixth form. Of the 162 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 18% moved to a sixth form college, 47% to a further education college and 9% started an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a real route from here: 9% of leavers started one, roughly three times the England figure of 3%.
12% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
Statistics is unusually popular at GCSE: 95% of the year group took it, against 5% of pupils across England.
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 Wirral and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Ridgeway High School | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 162 | 3,848 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 84% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 69% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 2% | 38% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 18% | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 47% | 25% | 37% |
| — other education | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 9% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 6% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 12% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 4% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Ridgeway High School | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 39.2 | 45.3 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 62% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 5% | 39% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.09 | 3.96 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 53% | 33% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 35.6 | 32.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 43.4 | 51.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 3% | 6% | 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 Language | 175 | 100% | 89% | 10% | 20% | 63% |
| English Literature | 174 | 99% | 86% | 7% | 21% | 64% |
| Mathematics | 174 | 99% | 88% | 5% | 22% | 57% |
| Combined Science | 172 | 98% | 65% | 3% | 9% | 37% |
| Statistics | 167 | 95% | 5% | 3% | 20% | 48% |
| Spanish | 53 | 30% | 19% | 21% | 27% | 57% |
| History | 51 | 29% | 41% | 16% | 26% | 61% |
| Geography | 43 | 25% | 41% | 2% | 25% | 21% |
| Business Studies | 37 | 21% | 18% | 5% | 20% | 41% |
| Art and Design | 29 | 17% | 7% | 38% | 24% | 97% |
| Religious Studies | 21 | 12% | 31% | 29% | 32% | 76% |
| 3D Design | 11 | 6% | 2% | 0% | 16% | 100% |
| Computer Science | 8 | 5% | 13% | 13% | 30% | 63% |
| Russian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Music | 1 | 1% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 50 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 48 | — | — |
| Animal Care (Non-Agricultural) | 39 | — | — |
| Childcare Skills | 22 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 13 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 11 | — | — |
| Tourism | 8 | — | — |
| Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined) | 6 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Wirral
Birkenhead Park School
Academy sponsor led · 731 pupils
71% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.9
Calday Grange Grammar School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,493 pupils
95% stayed in education · Attainment 8 68.1
Co-op Academy Bebington
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,044 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.3
Hilbre High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,154 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.0
Pensby High School
Foundation school · sixth form · 915 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.8
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.