Presfield High School and Specialist College
Preston New Road, Churchtown, Southport, PR9 8PA
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lucy McLoughlin
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Southport
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 88
- Pupils on roll
- 132
- URN
- 104977
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01704227831
About this school
Presfield High School and Specialist College is a community special school in Southport. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 132 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Presfield High School and Specialist College, 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 27 September 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 17 | 18 | 20 |
| Attainment 8 score | 9.7 | 8.8 | 16.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.80 -2.49 to -1.11 | -1.63 -2.38 to -0.89 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 5.6% | 15% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 6% | 11.1% | 35% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
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 Presfield High School and Specialist College 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 | 9.7 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 8.8 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 16.1 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 123 |
| 2023/24 | 123 |
| 2024/25 | 131 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 32.98%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.35%
- Persistent absence
- 34.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Peterhouse School0.0 miles
Special schools · Southport
-
Educ8 Southport1.7 miles
Special schools · Southport
-
Arden College1.9 miles
Other types
-
Scarisbrick Hall School4.5 miles
Independent schools
-
AKS Lytham5.5 miles
Independent schools · Lytham St Annes
Other schools in Southport
- Educ8 Southport Special schools
- Merefield School Academies
- Peterhouse School Special schools
- Crossens Nursery School Nursery
- Ainsdale St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Banks Methodist School Primary
- Banks St Stephen's CofE School Primary
- Birkdale Primary School Primary
- Bishop David Sheppard Church of England Primary School Primary
- Churchtown Primary School Primary
- Farnborough Road Infant School Primary
- Farnborough Road Junior School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Presfield High School and Specialist College teach?
- Presfield High School and Specialist College teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Southport.
- Who is the headteacher of Presfield High School and Specialist College?
- The headteacher of Presfield High School and Specialist College is Mrs Lucy McLoughlin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Presfield High School and Specialist College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Presfield High School and Specialist College, 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 Presfield High School and Specialist College?
- Presfield High School and Specialist College has 132 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Presfield High School and Specialist College full?
- Presfield High School and Specialist College has capacity for 88 pupils and 132 on roll (150%), 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 Presfield High School and Specialist College a faith school?
- No. Presfield High School and Specialist College has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Presfield High School and Specialist College have?
- The schools register lists Presfield High School and Specialist College's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Presfield High School and Specialist College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 9.7 in 2022/23 and 16.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Presfield High School and Specialist College's absence rate?
- Presfield High School and Specialist College's overall absence rate is 11.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Presfield High School and Specialist College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Presfield High School and Specialist College'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.