The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco, Bootle

Ofsted's report card from its 3 February 2026 inspection grades The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco on 6 areas: 2 expected standard and 4 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have strengthened their processes for identifying pupils' needs."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders, supported by the trust, have orchestrated a steady journey of improvement for the school."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Pupils' achievement in national examinations remains low, including for disadvantaged pupils."

Attendance and behaviour - Needs attention. "Leaders are contending with entrenched poor attendance, with varying levels of success."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "There is variability in how well the curriculum is delivered."

Personal development and wellbeing - Needs attention. "Leaders have not ensured that some elements of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum are taught well enough for pupils to remember what they have learned."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that teachers respond appropriately to assessment information and adapt teaching accordingly so that learning builds securely over time"; "Leaders should support teachers to design activities that allow pupils to consolidate their learning and move to greater independence, so that they remember their learning over time"; "Leaders should ensure that gaps in pupils' writing and mathematical knowledge are addressed promptly, so that pupils achieve as well as they should"; "Leaders should continue to prioritise improving pupils' attendance, so that the successes that they have had in encouraging younger pupils to attend school regularly are replicated with older pupils"; "Leaders should ensure that the curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education identifies all the important knowledge that pupils should learn, so that teachers can support them to build this knowledge securely over time"; "Leaders should support those responsible for subject leadership to ensure the curriculum is delivered consistently well across subjects".

In 2026, pupils at The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco averaged an Attainment 8 score of 34.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.4 in Sefton and 47 across England.

17% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 39% in Sefton and 47% in England.

That is up from 32.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -1: 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 26.6, against 44 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 17.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 18 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Spanish.

For September 2026 entry, 84 families put The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco as their first choice and 211 named it as one of their preferences, for 114 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco are Litherland High School (0.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 37.2); King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes (0.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 35.7); Archbishop Beck Catholic College (1.4 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.9); and Chesterfield High School (1.6 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48).

Each of them had higher 2026 results than The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco.

The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco is one of 7 schools run by Pope Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, an academy trust.

65 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco (as of April 2026): 94% would recommend the school, 94% say their child is happy there and 86% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (94%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (86%).

Of the 89 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 78% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 71% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 5% into work.

52.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 133 pupils (23.1%) received SEN support and 20 (3.5%) 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 a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest railway station is Aintree Rail Station, about 0.8 miles away in a straight line.

5 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Dunnings Bridge Road (adjacent), 180 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 259 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and other theft. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Sefton (165), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco issued 118 suspensions, 22.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco are Litherland Moss Primary School (0.4 miles), Our Lady of Walsingham Primary School (0.5 miles), St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School (0.6 miles) and Springwell Park Community Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.