South Wirral High School
South Wirral High School is a converter academy in Wirral for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 1,019 pupils and room for 1,234. About 37 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
Plymyard Avenue, Eastham, Wirral, CH62 8EH0151 327 3213southwirral.wirral.sch.ukMr Mike Cloherty headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 11 October 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
144 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of South Wirral High School, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | Wirral | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 144 | 167 | 183 | 138 | 136 | 147 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 37.4 | 37.3 | 40.9 | 40.6 | 41.0 | 44.1 | 47.4 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.38 | -0.16 | -0.29 | -0.10 | -0.02 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 28% | 29% | 23% | 28% | 28% | 27% | 47% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 56% | 52% | 54% | 51% | 54% | 59% | 65% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.04 | 2.97 | 3.22 | 3.20 | 3.37 | 3.54 | 4.16 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 18% | 14% | 11% | 14% | 20% | 36% | 41% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 29.6 | 28.0 | 31.9 | 33.3 | 36.8 | 35.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 43.8 | 41.3 | 45.4 | 45.0 | 43.6 | 46.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 28.3 | 32.0 | 30.3 | 25.0 | 26.2 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 47.1 | 56.8 | 59.3 | 53.3 | 54.0 | – | – |
† These results are for South Wirral High School, the school this one replaced in April 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
About 147 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up.
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 Wirral council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (102), Specific learning difficulty (98), language and communications needs (51), Moderate learning difficulty (31), Autistic spectrum disorder (24), Physical disability (11).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 88.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 11.4% | 11.3% | 9.9% | 11.1% | 6.9% | 6.7% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.6% | 6.2% | 4.9% | 6.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 4.7% | 5.1% | 5.0% | 4.3% | 2.2% | 2.4% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 34.1% | 34.0% | 29.6% | 32.9% | 18.6% | 19.8% | 23.9% |
† These attendance figures are for South Wirral High School, the school this one replaced in April 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wirral Grammar School for Boys | Academy (grammar) | 2.9 miles | 1,123 | Good 2022 | 90 | Compare |
| Wirral Grammar School for Girls | Academy (grammar) | 3.0 miles | 1,224 | Outstanding 2022 | 94 | Compare |
| Co-op Academy Bebington | Academy | 3.3 miles | 1,044 | Good 2023 | 20 | Compare |
| Neston High School | Academy | 3.3 miles | 1,712 | Good 2022 | 53 | Compare |
| St John Plessington Catholic College | Academy | 3.5 miles | 1,556 | Good 2022 | 22 | Compare |
| Ellesmere Port Church of England College | Academy | 3.8 miles | 777 | Good 2023 | 25 | Compare |
| Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 3.9 miles | 950 | Report card 2026 | 11 | Compare |
| The Whitby High School | Foundation | 4.3 miles | 1,398 | Good 2022 | 17 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is South Wirral High School a good school?
South Wirral High School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in October 2022.
What is South Wirral High School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated South Wirral High School good at its last full inspection on 11 October 2022.
How good are South Wirral High School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 28% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 37.4, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does South Wirral High School have?
1,019 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,234 places, so it is 83% full.
Is South Wirral High School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 147 places were empty in 2024/25 (12% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at South Wirral High School?
Pupils were in school 88.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 34% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at South Wirral High School?
The average class had 21.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 2% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does South Wirral High School 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
- Plymyard Avenue, Eastham, Wirral, CH62 8EH
- Telephone
- 0151 327 3213
- Website
- southwirral.wirral.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Mike Cloherty
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- The Challenge Academy Trust (14 schools)
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Ward
- Eastham
- Constituency
- Ellesmere Port and Bromborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151354 · LAESTAB 3444071 · UKPRN 10096594
- Formerly
- South Wirral High School
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.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- 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.