Helsby High School
Chester Road, Helsby, Frodsham, WA6 0HY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Martin Hill
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Runcorn and Helsby
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,371
- Pupils on roll
- 1,211
- URN
- 111440
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01928723551
About this school
Helsby High School is a community secondary school in Frodsham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,211 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Helsby 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 July 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 | 222 | 231 | 216 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.5 | 48.3 | 47.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.03 -0.22 to +0.16 | +0.05 -0.14 to +0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 48.9% | 51.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 67.1% | 70.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 66% | 78.8% | 74.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.4 |
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 Helsby 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 | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.5 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.3 | 40.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.1 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,338 |
| 2023/24 | 1,292 |
| 2024/25 | 1,235 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Helsby High School compares
Helsby High School ranked 10th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.1 | 10.5% | 19.4% | 1,211 | — |
| The Heath School | 42.5 | 9% | 34.6% | 1,174 | 3.3 miles |
| Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy | 33.3 | 11.6% | 59.5% | 332 | 3.6 miles |
| Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy | 35.9 | 13.2% | 58.3% | 754 | 4.3 miles |
| Sandymoor Ormiston Academy | 44.4 | 9.1% | 27.9% | 631 | 6.0 miles |
| Ormiston Chadwick Academy | 41.2 | 12.4% | 51.9% | 884 | 6.4 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 19.41%
- English as an additional language
- 1.9%
- Overall absence
- 10.53%
- Persistent absence
- 29.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Heath School3.3 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
-
Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy3.6 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
-
Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy4.3 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
-
Sandymoor Ormiston Academy6.0 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
-
Ormiston Chadwick Academy6.4 miles
Secondary · Widnes
Other schools in Frodsham
- Alvanley and Manley Village School Primary
- Frodsham CofE Primary School Primary
- Frodsham Manor House Primary School Primary
- Frodsham Primary Academy Primary
- Helsby Hillside Primary School Primary
- Horn's Mill Primary School Primary
- Kingsley Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Kingsley St John's CofE Primary School Primary
- Norley Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Luke's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Fern House School and College Special schools
Common questions
- What ages does Helsby High School teach?
- Helsby High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Frodsham.
- Who is the headteacher of Helsby High School?
- The headteacher of Helsby High School is Mr Martin Hill, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Helsby High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Helsby 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 Helsby High School?
- Helsby High School has 1,211 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Helsby High School full?
- Helsby High School has capacity for 1,371 pupils and 1,211 on roll (88%), so it has space against 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 Helsby High School a faith school?
- No. Helsby High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Helsby High School a selective school?
- No. Helsby High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Helsby High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.5 in 2022/23 and 47.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Helsby High School compare with other schools in Cheshire West and Chester?
- Helsby High School ranked 10th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Helsby High School's absence rate?
- Helsby High School's overall absence rate is 10.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Helsby High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Helsby 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.