Upton Hall School FCJ, Wirral

Ofsted's report card from its 29 September 2026 inspection grades Upton Hall School FCJ on 7 areas: 2 exceptional and 5 strong standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Exceptional. "Pupils' impressive standards of attendance and behaviour are the result of leaders' deliberate approach to instilling a deep sense of personal responsibility."

Personal development and wellbeing - Exceptional. "Leaders' consistent, deliberate and thoughtful approach to developing pupils' character has been sustained over time to a noteworthy degree."

Achievement - Strong standard. "Pupils achieve very well at this school."

Curriculum and teaching - Strong standard. "Leaders have set out a carefully designed curriculum that reflects their high ambitions for pupils' depth and breadth of learning."

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion is a deeply embedded part of the ethos that leaders have established."

Leadership and governance - Strong standard. "The school's established high standards of performance do not distract leaders from their work to secure further improvements."

Post-16 provision - Strong standard. "Leaders have designed a programme of post-16 study which combines ambitious qualifications with an impressive breadth of enriching opportunities."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should continue to refine and embed developments to inclusion, teaching and the curriculum so that high standards of achievement can be sustained across all subjects and key stages".

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome to our Sixth Form. As the Sixth Form Leadership Team we are incredibly proud of our dynamic and forward-looking Sixth Form, which offers a wide choice of subjects as well as excellent individual pupil support to ensure that all students achieve their potential. Our rich academic programme is supplemented by additional academic, spiritual and extra-curricular activities."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, choir, orchestra, STEM, sewing, debating, Duke of Edinburgh and book club.

In 2026, pupils at Upton Hall School FCJ averaged an Attainment 8 score of 65.6, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.2 in Wirral and 47 across England.

88% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 47% in Wirral and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 65.6.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.91: pupils made well 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 55.1, against 66.8 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 11.7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Spanish and History.

Upton Hall School FCJ is a grammar school: places go to children who reach the required standard in its entrance test, and only then are the oversubscription criteria applied.

For September 2026 entry, 166 families put Upton Hall School FCJ as their first choice and 306 named it as one of their preferences, for 156 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 13 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

Upton Hall School FCJ admits pupils through an entrance test, usually called the 11-plus. Children have to be registered for it in advance, normally in the spring or summer of Year 5; the test itself is usually sat in September of Year 6, and results come out in October, before the 31 October deadline for naming secondary schools.

Passing the test makes a child eligible rather than guaranteeing a place: when more children pass than there are places, Upton Hall School FCJ ranks them by the criteria in its admissions policy, which can include test score and distance. Check Wirral's admissions pages and the school's own policy for this year's registration deadline - a child who is not registered in time cannot sit the test.

Wirral has 6 state grammar schools in all, so a child who passes may have several selective schools to choose between.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Upton Hall School FCJ are Ridgeway High School (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 37.7); Woodchurch High School (1.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 38.5); Birkenhead High School Academy (2.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 49.1); and St Anselm's College (2.1 miles, Good, selective, Attainment 8 63.1).

Upton Hall School FCJ's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

Of the 159 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 97% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 4% to a further education college and 2% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 111 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 65% went on to university or other higher education, 3% to apprenticeships and 23% into work. 36% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 3.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (82%) and Asian (6%).

In 2026, 147 pupils (14.6%) received SEN support and 6 (0.6%) 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 Upton Rail Station, about 1030 metres away (roughly a 13-minute walk).

11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ford Road (adjacent), 120 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Upton Hall School FCJ stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, Upton Hall School FCJ issued 3 suspensions, 0.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Upton Hall School FCJ are St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Upton (under 0.1 miles), Overchurch Junior School (0.3 miles), Overchurch Infant School (0.3 miles) and Brookdale Primary School (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.