Ashley High School
Cawfield Avenue, Widnes, WA8 7HG
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss D Wilson
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Widnes and Halewood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 112
- Pupils on roll
- 137
- URN
- 111515
- Local authority
- Halton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01514244892
About this school
Ashley High School is a community special school in Widnes. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 137 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 February 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 | 19 | 16 | 22 |
| Attainment 8 score | 12.5 | 10.6 | 10.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -2.06 -2.73 to -1.38 | -2.66 -3.35 to -1.96 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 18.8% | 9.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 32% | 25% | 22.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
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 Ashley 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 | Halton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.5 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 10.6 | 32.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 10.7 | 34.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 116 |
| 2023/24 | 114 |
| 2024/25 | 128 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 62.73%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 8.38%
- Persistent absence
- 25.89%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chesnut Lodge Special School0.1 miles
Special schools · Widnes
-
Poppy Field School1.1 miles
Special schools · Widnes
-
The Raise Academy1.7 miles
Free Schools · Widnes
-
Brookfields School1.8 miles
Academies · Widnes
-
Weston Point College2.4 miles
Special schools · Runcorn
Other schools in Widnes
- Brookfields School Academies
- Chesnut Lodge Special School Special schools
- Poppy Field School Special schools
- The Raise Academy Free Schools
- Aspiring Foundations Federated Nursery Schools - Ditton Nursery School Nursery
- Aspiring Foundations Federated Nursery Schools - Warrington Road Nursery School Nursery
- Birchfield Nursery School Nursery
- All Saints Upton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Cronton Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Ditton Primary School Primary
- Fairfield Primary School Primary
- Farnworth Church of England Controlled Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ashley High School teach?
- Ashley High School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Widnes.
- Who is the headteacher of Ashley High School?
- The headteacher of Ashley High School is Miss D Wilson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ashley High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ashley 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 Ashley High School?
- Ashley High School has 137 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Ashley High School full?
- Ashley High School has capacity for 112 pupils and 137 on roll (122%), 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 Ashley High School a faith school?
- No. Ashley High School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Ashley High School have?
- The schools register lists Ashley High School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ashley High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 12.5 in 2022/23 and 10.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Ashley High School's absence rate?
- Ashley High School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ashley High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ashley 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.