Holy Family Catholic High School
Virgins Lane, Thornton, Liverpool, L23 4UL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Matthew Symes
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Liverpool
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Sefton Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 869
- Pupils on roll
- 1,012
- URN
- 104962
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01519246451
About this school
Holy Family Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Liverpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,012 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Holy Family 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 October 2024, 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 | 157 | 159 | 172 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.0 | 44.0 | 44.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.02 -0.24 to +0.20 | -0.21 -0.44 to +0.01 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 38.4% | 44.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 66% | 62.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 13.2% | 11.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
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 Holy Family 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 | Sefton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 48 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.8 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 953 |
| 2023/24 | 1,009 |
| 2024/25 | 1,037 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Holy Family Catholic High School compares
Holy Family Catholic High School ranked 5th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.8 | 9.2% | 26.7% | 1,012 | — |
| Chesterfield High School | 48.4 | 8.2% | 26.1% | 1,692 | 0.6 miles |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Academy | 42.4 | 13.2% | 33.1% | 613 | 1.1 miles |
| St Michaels Church of England Academy | — | 13.5% | — | 547 | 1.1 miles |
| Litherland High School | 41.7 | 11.8% | 48.7% | 761 | 1.6 miles |
| The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco | 32.2 | 12.4% | 54.3% | 575 | 2.2 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.67%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 9.19%
- Persistent absence
- 23.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chesterfield High School0.6 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Sacred Heart Catholic Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
St Michaels Church of England Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Crosby
-
Litherland High School1.6 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco2.2 miles
Secondary · Bootle
Other schools in Liverpool
Holy Family Catholic High School ranks 16th 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
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Secondary
- Chesterfield High School Secondary
- Childwall Sports & Science Academy Secondary
- Deyes High School Secondary
- Dixons Broadgreen Academy Secondary
- Dixons Croxteth Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Holy Family Catholic High School teach?
- Holy Family Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Liverpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Holy Family Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of Holy Family Catholic High School is Mr Matthew Symes, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Holy Family Catholic High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Holy Family 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 Holy Family Catholic High School?
- Holy Family Catholic High School has 1,012 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Holy Family Catholic High School full?
- Holy Family Catholic High School has capacity for 869 pupils and 1,012 on roll (116%), 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 Holy Family Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. Holy Family Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
- Is Holy Family Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. Holy Family Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Holy Family Catholic High School have?
- The schools register lists Holy Family Catholic High School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Holy Family Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48 in 2022/23 and 44.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Holy Family Catholic High School compare with other schools in Sefton?
- Holy Family Catholic High School ranked 5th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Holy Family Catholic High School's absence rate?
- Holy Family Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Holy Family Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Holy Family 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.