Ridgeway High School
Noctorum Avenue, Noctorum, Prenton, CH43 9EB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Gavin Sterry
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Birkenhead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 885
- Pupils on roll
- 858
- URN
- 105097
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01516783322
About this school
Ridgeway High School is a foundation secondary school in Prenton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 858 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 162 | 171 | 175 |
| Attainment 8 score | 37.4 | 36.5 | 39.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.52 to -0.08 | -0.16 -0.37 to +0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 23% | 22.2% | 25.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 41% | 46.8% | 52.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 15% | 12.3% | 5.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
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 Ridgeway 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 | Wirral average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 37.4 | 39.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.5 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.2 | 37.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 873 |
| 2023/24 | 898 |
| 2024/25 | 903 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ridgeway High School compares
Ridgeway High School ranked 11th of 19 secondary schools in Wirral for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.2 | 12.8% | 58.7% | 858 | — |
| Woodchurch High School | 37.9 | 11.6% | 39.5% | 1,399 | 0.3 miles |
| Upton Hall School FCJ | 65.6 | 4.9% | 10.2% | 1,004 | 1.2 miles |
| St Anselm's College | 57.2 | 5.3% | 14% | 1,002 | 1.2 miles |
| Birkenhead Park School | 39.9 | 6.9% | 66.1% | 731 | 1.4 miles |
| Prenton High School for Girls | 38.9 | 15% | 45.1% | 770 | 2.1 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)
- 58.69%
- English as an additional language
- 6.3%
- Overall absence
- 12.79%
- Persistent absence
- 43.32%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Woodchurch High School0.3 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Upton Hall School FCJ1.2 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
St Anselm's College1.2 miles
Secondary · Prenton
-
Birkenhead Park School1.4 miles
Secondary · Birkenhead
-
Prenton High School for Girls2.1 miles
Secondary · Birkenhead
Other schools in Prenton
- St Anselm's College Secondary
- Bidston Village CofE (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Co-op Academy Hillside Primary
- Oxton St Saviour's CofE Primary School Primary
- Prenton Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Birkenhead Primary
- St Paul's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Peter's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Birkenhead High School Academy All-through
- The Observatory School Special schools
- Birkenhead School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Ridgeway High School teach?
- Ridgeway High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Prenton.
- Who is the headteacher of Ridgeway High School?
- The headteacher of Ridgeway High School is Mr Gavin Sterry, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ridgeway High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ridgeway 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 big is Ridgeway High School?
- Ridgeway High School has 858 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ridgeway High School full?
- Ridgeway High School has capacity for 885 pupils and 858 on roll (97%), 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 Ridgeway High School a faith school?
- No. Ridgeway High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Ridgeway High School a selective school?
- No. Ridgeway High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Ridgeway High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 37.4 in 2022/23 and 39.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ridgeway High School rank locally?
- Ridgeway High School ranked 11th of 19 secondary schools in Wirral for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ridgeway High School's absence rate?
- Ridgeway High School's overall absence rate is 12.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ridgeway High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ridgeway 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.