Birkenhead High School Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,226 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.5
Community special school
The Observatory School
- Pupils on roll
- 174of 160 places
- Free school meals
- 66.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 18
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 14 January 2025Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Of the 20 pupils who finished Year 11 at The Observatory School in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 35% to a further education college and 5% started an apprenticeship.
35% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
The Observatory School is a special school: its GCSE figures (Attainment 8 of 5.9, 0% with grade 5 or above in English and maths) are published by DfE for completeness and are not comparable with mainstream schools.
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 | The Observatory School | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 20 | 3,848 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 50% | 91% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 45% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 38% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 19% | 13% |
| — further education college | 35% | 25% | 37% |
| — other education | 10% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 35% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 15% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | The Observatory School | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 5.9 | 45.3 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 62% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 39% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.51 | 3.96 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 67% | 33% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 5.5 | 32.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 6.8 | 51.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 6% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 9 | 50% | 88% | 0% | 22% | 11% |
| Art and Design | 8 | 44% | 7% | 0% | 24% | 25% |
| Combined Science | 6 | 33% | 65% | 0% | 9% | 0% |
| English Language | 4 | 22% | 89% | — | 20% | — |
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.