Birkdale High School, Southport

Ofsted's report card from its 14 April 2026 inspection grades Birkdale High School on 6 areas: 4 strong standard and 2 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have implemented a robust and highly ambitious curriculum across all subjects and year groups."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "The vision of Birkdale High School as ‘A School Where We All Belong' is lived out in the daily lives of pupils, staff and leaders."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "Leaders are relentless in their work to improve the lives of the pupils at Birkdale High."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have established a well-crafted personal development and wellbeing programme."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils achieve increasingly well across the curriculum."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have created a warm and welcoming school."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that staff take collective responsibility for securing consistently high levels of pupil attendance, with a particular focus on reducing persistent and severe absence"; "Leaders should ensure that their analysis of data continues to drive high-quality support and sustained improvements in outcomes for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, so that they can exceed national averages in national examinations".

In 2026, pupils at Birkdale High School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 51.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.4 in Sefton and 47 across England.

60% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 39% in Sefton and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 51.9.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.22: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 39.7, against 56.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 16.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 188 families put Birkdale High School as their first choice and 316 named it as one of their preferences, for 190 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 4 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Birkdale High School are Greenbank High School (0.7 miles, Good, Attainment 8 49.9); Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre (1.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.8); Meols Cop High School (2.7 miles, Attainment 8 42.9); and Formby High School (4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51.5).

Birkdale High School's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Birkdale High School is one of 9 schools run by Southport Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 45.4 in 2024/25.

Of the 179 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 85% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 80% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

In 2026, 169 pupils (18.1%) received SEN support and 25 (2.7%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Hillside Rail Station, about 1120 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Birkdale High School (w-bound), 70 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 56 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, criminal damage and arson and public order offences. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Sefton (165).

In 2024/25, Birkdale High School issued 79 suspensions, 8.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Birkdale High School are Farnborough Road Infant School (0.5 miles), Farnborough Road Junior School (0.5 miles), Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School (0.8 miles) and Ainsdale St John's Church of England Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.