Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School
Honeysgreen Lane, Liverpool, L12 9HZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Ms Karen Smyth
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- Constituency
- Liverpool West Derby
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,394
- Pupils on roll
- 1,338
- URN
- 104714
- Local authority
- Liverpool
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01512351430
About this school
Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic boys' voluntary aided secondary school in Liverpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,338 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 235 | 239 | 240 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.6 | 43.6 | 40.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.57 -0.75 to -0.38 | -0.41 -0.60 to -0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 43.1% | 28.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 61.9% | 55.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 15.1% | 10.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Liverpool average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41.6 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.6 | 35.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.9 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,360 |
| 2023/24 | 1,331 |
| 2024/25 | 1,324 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School compares
Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School ranked 16th of 29 secondary schools in Liverpool for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.9 | 7.6% | 36% | 1,338 | — |
| Broughton Hall Catholic High School | 39.2 | 11.8% | 39.1% | 1,175 | 0.1 miles |
| St Edward's College | 51.6 | 6.8% | 18.6% | 1,150 | 0.8 miles |
| Dixons Broadgreen Academy | 34.4 | 12.1% | 52.7% | 1,159 | 1.0 miles |
| Holly Lodge Girls' College | 47.2 | 10.9% | 54.1% | 1,016 | 1.2 miles |
| West Derby School | 42 | 9% | 41.7% | 1,011 | 1.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report27 January 2026
- 28 September 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.96%
- English as an additional language
- 5.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.59%
- Persistent absence
- 22.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Broughton Hall Catholic High School0.1 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
St Edward's College0.8 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Dixons Broadgreen Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Holly Lodge Girls' College1.2 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
West Derby School1.4 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
Other schools in Liverpool
Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School ranks 24th of the 40 ranked secondary schools in Liverpool.
- Alsop High School Secondary
- Archbishop Beck Catholic College Secondary
- Archbishop Blanch CofE High School Secondary
- Bellerive FCJ Catholic College Secondary
- Broughton Hall Catholic High School Secondary
- Calderstones School Secondary
- Chesterfield High School Secondary
- Childwall Sports & Science Academy Secondary
- Deyes High School Secondary
- Dixons Broadgreen Academy Secondary
- Dixons Croxteth Academy Secondary
- Dixons Fazakerley Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School teach?
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Liverpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School is Ms Karen Smyth, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School?
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School has 1,338 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School full?
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School has capacity for 1,394 pupils and 1,338 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Is Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.6 in 2022/23 and 40.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School compare with other schools in Liverpool?
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School ranked 16th of 29 secondary schools in Liverpool for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's absence rate?
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.