West Lancashire Community High School
School Lane, Chapel House, Skelmersdale, WN8 8EH
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mr Lee Fazackerley
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- West Lancashire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 180
- Pupils on roll
- 176
- URN
- 131258
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01695721487
About this school
West Lancashire Community High School is a community special school in Skelmersdale. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 176 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected West Lancashire Community 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 13 March 2024, 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 | 18 | 15 | 21 |
| Attainment 8 score | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.73 -2.42 to -1.04 | -1.58 -2.45 to -0.70 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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 West Lancashire Community 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.4 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.1 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 0.2 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 126 |
| 2023/24 | 137 |
| 2024/25 | 164 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.72%
- English as an additional language
- 5.5%
- Overall absence
- 12.75%
- Persistent absence
- 30.77%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kingsbury Primary Special School0.2 miles
Special schools · Skelmersdale
-
Moss View School1.2 miles
Special schools · Skelmersdale
-
Elm Tree Community Primary School2.0 miles
Special schools · Skelmersdale
-
Hope High School2.5 miles
Special schools · Skelmersdale
-
Edge Hill University2.8 miles
Universities · Ormskirk
Other schools in Skelmersdale
- Elm Tree Community Primary School Special schools
- Hope High School Special schools
- Kingsbury Primary Special School Special schools
- Learn 4 Life School Special schools
- Moss View School Special schools
- Bishop Martin Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brookfield Park Primary School Primary
- Cobbs Brow School Primary
- Crawford Village Primary School Primary
- Crow Orchard Primary School Primary
- Delph Side Community Primary School Primary
- Hillside Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does West Lancashire Community High School teach?
- West Lancashire Community High School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Skelmersdale.
- Who is the head teacher of West Lancashire Community High School?
- The head teacher of West Lancashire Community High School is Mr Lee Fazackerley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has West Lancashire Community High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected West Lancashire Community 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 West Lancashire Community High School?
- West Lancashire Community High School has 176 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is West Lancashire Community High School full?
- West Lancashire Community High School has capacity for 180 pupils and 176 on roll (98%), 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 West Lancashire Community High School a faith school?
- No. West Lancashire Community High School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does West Lancashire Community High School have?
- The schools register lists West Lancashire Community High School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have West Lancashire Community High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 0.4 in 2022/23 and 0.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is West Lancashire Community High School's absence rate?
- West Lancashire Community High School's overall absence rate is 12.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are West Lancashire Community High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, West Lancashire Community 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 30 June 2026.