Palmerston School
Minehead Road, Aigburth, Liverpool, L17 6AU
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Alison Buckley
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Liverpool Wavertree
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 175
- Pupils on roll
- 184
- URN
- 104748
- Local authority
- Liverpool
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01514282128
About this school
Palmerston School is a community special school in Liverpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 184 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 5 March 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 24 | 16 | 19 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
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 Palmerston 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 | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 149 |
| 2023/24 | 168 |
| 2024/25 | 174 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 58.33%
- English as an additional language
- 31%
- Overall absence
- 10.65%
- Persistent absence
- 30.58%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Auckland College1.1 miles
Independent schools · Liverpool
-
Prudentia Education1.2 miles
Independent schools · Liverpool
-
King's Leadership Phoenix Academy1.4 miles
Free Schools · Liverpool
-
ES Independent School1.6 miles
Independent schools · Merseyside
-
The Belvedere Preparatory School1.6 miles
Independent schools · Liverpool
Other schools in Liverpool
- Abbot's Lea School Special schools
- Acre View Primary School Special schools
- Alt Bridge School Special schools
- Bank View High School Special schools
- Bluebell Park School Special schools
- Childwall Abbey School Special schools
- Clifford Holroyde Sen College Special schools
- Co-op Academy Rathbone Academies
- Crosby High School Special schools
- Educ8 Liverpool Special schools
- Everton Free School & Football College Free Schools
- Finch Woods Academy Academies
Common questions
- What year groups does Palmerston School teach?
- Palmerston School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Liverpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Palmerston School?
- The headteacher of Palmerston School is Mrs Alison Buckley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Palmerston School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Palmerston 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 big is Palmerston School?
- Palmerston School has 184 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Palmerston School full?
- Palmerston School has capacity for 175 pupils and 184 on roll (105%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Palmerston School a faith school?
- No. Palmerston School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Palmerston School have?
- The schools register lists Palmerston School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is Palmerston School's absence rate?
- Palmerston School's overall absence rate is 10.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Palmerston School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Palmerston 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.