Lord Derby Academy, Liverpool
Lord Derby Academy is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Liverpool, part of The Dean Trust. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in June 2023. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 39th-highest of the 42 schools in Liverpool with published results, and 3,136th of 3,298 across England. For 2026 entry it had 1.3 first-choice applications for every place. It was 97% full in 2025.
- GCSE results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2023)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- In line with England
- Progress (2024)
- Well below average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 5 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Knowsley (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Lord Derby Academy in detail
Results
In 2026, pupils at Lord Derby Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 34.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 36.2 in Knowsley and 47 across England.
18% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 26% in Knowsley and 47% in England.
That is down from 39.9 in 2025.
Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.59: pupils made well below 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 30.6, against 39.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 9 points.
Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Spanish.
Getting a place at Lord Derby Academy
For September 2026 entry, 284 families put Lord Derby Academy as their first choice and 484 named it as one of their preferences, for 217 places offered. That is 1.3 first choices for every place. 76 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state secondary schools to Lord Derby Academy are The Prescot School (1.7 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 35.1); Gateacre School (1.8 miles, Attainment 8 39.4); Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy (2.1 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 32.6); and Broughton Hall Catholic High School (2.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.4).
Lord Derby Academy's 2026 results were higher than 1 of these 4 schools.
The Prescot SchoolGateacre SchoolSaint Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic AcademyBroughton Hall Catholic High School
The trust
Lord Derby Academy is one of 11 schools run by The Dean Trust, an academy trust.
Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 43.5 in 2024/25.
Where pupils go next
Of the 213 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 79% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 56% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 3% into work.
Who goes there
56.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Huyton Rail Station, about 600 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).
20 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Hey Park (adjacent), 70 metres away.
The area around the school
Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Lord Derby Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. On income deprivation affecting children it is in the 3rd decile, where the 1st is the most deprived. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Lord Derby Academy issued 38 suspensions, 3.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Lord Derby Academy are St Gabriel's CofE Primary School (0.3 miles), Sylvester Primary Academy (0.3 miles), St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles) and Huyton With Roby Church of England Primary School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
St Gabriel's CofE Primary SchoolSylvester Primary AcademySt Joseph's Catholic Primary SchoolHuyton With Roby Church of England Primary School
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Location
Our estimate from how close the nearest similar schools are and how oversubscribed the council's schools are. It is not a published boundary.
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 3 years agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its June 2023 inspection.
Rated Good for
Quality of education, Behaviour & attitudes, Personal development, Leadership & management.
About
Lord Derby Academy (LDA) is a coeducational secondary school founded in the mid-20th century. It has an academy status and is located in Huyton in the English county of Merseyside.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
56.9%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Secondary Performance (GCSE)
Academic year 2025/26GCSE Results
2025/26 academic year
Progress 8 has improved from -0.72 to -0.59 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has declined from 34.7 to 34.3 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has remained stable at around 18% (2023 to 2026).
Performance by Group
| Group | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | Eng+Maths 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pupils | - | 34.3 | 18.4% |
| Disadvantaged(121) | - | 30.6 | 12.4% |
| Not known to be disadvantaged(85) | - | 39.6 | 27.1% |
| Boys(100) | - | 32.7 | 19% |
| Girls(106) | - | 35.9 | 17.9% |
Show more breakdowns (2)
| Known or believed to be other than English(8) | - | 43.9 | 25% |
| Non mobile(198) | - | 34.2 | 19.2% |
2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data
GCSE Subjects Offered
+ 5 more subjects
2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils
After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations
After GCSEs (Year 11) - 213 students
2023/24 data
Exclusions & Suspensions
0
Permanent exclusions
0.00%
Exclusion rate
38
Suspensions
3.53%
Suspension rate
28 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 1,078 pupils
2024/25 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby secondary schools
Keep up with Lord Derby Academy
Term dates
Lord Derby Academy is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Knowsley's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Lord Derby Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Lord Derby Academy is in Knowsley; for families living there:
Apply to Knowsley for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 21
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 5
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 16 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot, 3 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise.
5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Knowsley is 14 (the median across 63 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Lord Derby Academy
Will you get a place at Lord Derby Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Lord Derby Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Lord Derby Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Lord Derby Academy.
- Knowsley publishes last distance offered figures, but none for Lord Derby Academy that we hold, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Lord Derby Academy for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Knowsley got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
£9.99 once
One school, inc. VAT. Or £19.99 for up to three schools.
Pro £9 a month, every report included, cancel any time
A report for any school, plus everything else in Pro.
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
97%
Near capacity
1,071 pupils
1,100 places
29 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Liverpool
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Liverpool
Across Knowsley council
Places available
1,290
Applications
1,828
Got 1st preference
78.1%
Got preferred school
93.5%
All secondary applications across Knowsley council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(3)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
168
SEN Support
44
EHC Plans
19.7%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
1,076
Total Pupils
531
Boys
545
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
70
Teachers
15.4:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£55,604
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£9,694
Per pupil
£11353k
Total funding
£600k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
9.2%
Overall absence
23.9%
Persistent absence
1,101
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Lord Derby Academy
Showing 10 of 14 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Lord Derby Academy
What are GCSE results like at Lord Derby Academy?
In the 2026 results, pupils at Lord Derby Academy achieved an Attainment 8 score of 34.3. 18% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.
What is Lord Derby Academy's Ofsted rating?
Lord Derby Academy was rated Good at its most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2023. At its previous graded inspection in 2019 it was rated Requires Improvement.
What is the catchment area for Lord Derby Academy?
No fixed boundary. When Lord Derby Academy is oversubscribed, Knowsley allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Lord Derby Academy?
Lord Derby Academy was close to full in 2025, at 97% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at Lord Derby Academy?
Classes at Lord Derby Academy average 22.3 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Lord Derby Academy?
Lord Derby Academy has around 1076 pupils on roll. 57% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Lord Derby Academy?
9.2% of sessions were missed at Lord Derby Academy in 2024/25. 23.9% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Lord Derby Academy?
Apply through Knowsley's coordinated admissions process, naming Lord Derby Academy on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Lord Derby Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 21 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 16 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 1 on foot, 3 on a bicycle and 1 in a vehicle or otherwise. 5 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Knowsley is 14 (the median across 63 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Lord Derby Academy?
Lord Derby Academy is at Seel Road, Huyton, Liverpool, Merseyside, L36 6DG.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)