Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool)
Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) is a non-maintained special school in Liverpool for boys and girls aged 2 to 19. It has 80 pupils and room for 90. About 34 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Church Road North, Wavertree, Liverpool, L15 6TQ0151 733 1012rsblind.orgMrs Josie Grainger-Francova head of schoolAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 6 May 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 24 November 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
3 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. Fewer than eleven pupils sat the exams, so the figures could identify individual children.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Liverpool council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with hearing impairment, visual impairment.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Liverpool with hearing impairment provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Vision impairment (64), Autistic spectrum disorder (4), Physical disability (4), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (3), Other difficulty or disability (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 80 | 85 | 88 | 81 | 81 | 86 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 34% | 31% | 26% | 30% | 26% | 29% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 5% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 14% | 21% | 17% | 21% | 22% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 86% | 80% | 83% | 79% | 78% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 83.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 16.4% | 17.1% | 14.6% | 14.3% | 14.5% | 11.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 12.7% | 17.1% | 14.6% | 14.2% | 14.4% | 11.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 49.3% | 48.3% | 45.5% | 41.8% | 46.4% | 37.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wavertree Church of England School | Church of England | 300 m | 159 | Good 2022 | 8 | Compare |
| The Blue Coat School | Academy (grammar) | 300 m | 1,232 | Good 2022 | 97 | Compare |
| Our Lady of Good Help Catholic Primary School | Catholic | 470 m | 157 | Good 2024 | 36 | Compare |
| Mosspits Lane Primary School | Council | 580 m | 391 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
| Greenbank Primary School | Council | 910 m | 434 | Good 2024 | 31 | Compare |
| King David Primary School | Jewish | 980 m | 427 | Good 2024 | 57 | Compare |
| Heygreen Primary School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 245 | No overall grade 2025 | 86 | Compare |
| King David High School | Jewish | 0.7 miles | 744 | Good 2022 | 77 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) a good school?
Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from May 2026 rated its teaching as strong.
What is Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool)'s Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 6 May 2026 it rated teaching as strong, achievement as strong, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.
How many pupils does Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) have?
80 pupils aged 2 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 90 places, so it is 89% full.
What is attendance like at Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool)?
Pupils were in school 83.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 49% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for hearing impairment, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Royal School for the Blind (Liverpool) have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Church Road North, Wavertree, Liverpool, L15 6TQ
- Telephone
- 0151 733 1012
- Website
- www.rsblind.org
- Head of School
- Mrs Josie Grainger-Francova
- Type of school
- Non-maintained special school (Non-maintained special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-19, with nursery, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Liverpool
- Ward
- Church
- Constituency
- Liverpool Wavertree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 104735 · LAESTAB 3417023 · UKPRN 10017455
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.