Prenton High School for Girls
Hesketh Avenue, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, CH42 6RR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Girls
- Trust
- PRENTON HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
- Headteacher
- Lisa Ayling
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Birkenhead
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 790
- Pupils on roll
- 770
- URN
- 137130
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01516448113
About this school
Prenton High School for Girls is a girls' secondary academy in Birkenhead. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 770 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Prenton High School for Girls, 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 30 November 2022, 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 | 151 | 154 | 154 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.3 | 41.2 | 38.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.03 -0.26 to +0.21 | +0.02 -0.20 to +0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 34.4% | 33.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 59.1% | 55.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 39% | 37.7% | 42.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
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 Prenton High School for Girls 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 | 42.3 | 39.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.2 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.9 | 37.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 15% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 780 |
| 2023/24 | 781 |
| 2024/25 | 781 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Prenton High School for Girls compares
Prenton High School for Girls ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Wirral for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.9 | 15% | 45.1% | 770 | — |
| St John Plessington Catholic College | 37.2 | 10.9% | 39.6% | 1,556 | 1.0 miles |
| Co-op Academy Bebington | 37.3 | 9.9% | 51.7% | 1,044 | 1.2 miles |
| Wirral Grammar School for Girls | 69.3 | 5% | 9.2% | 1,224 | 1.5 miles |
| Wirral Grammar School for Boys | 65.4 | 4% | 9.5% | 1,123 | 1.5 miles |
| Birkenhead Park School | 39.9 | 6.9% | 66.1% | 731 | 1.7 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)
- 45.07%
- English as an additional language
- 12.5%
- Overall absence
- 15.01%
- Persistent absence
- 41.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St John Plessington Catholic College1.0 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Co-op Academy Bebington1.2 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Wirral Grammar School for Girls1.5 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Wirral Grammar School for Boys1.5 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Birkenhead Park School1.7 miles
Secondary · Birkenhead
Other schools in Birkenhead
- Birkenhead Park School Secondary
- Bedford Drive Primary School Primary
- Bidston Avenue Primary School Primary
- Birkenhead Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- Co-op Academy Portland Primary
- Devonshire Park Primary School Primary
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Primary
- Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Rock Ferry Primary School Primary
- St Anne's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School Primary
- The Priory Parish CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Prenton High School for Girls teach?
- Prenton High School for Girls teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Birkenhead.
- Who is the headteacher of Prenton High School for Girls?
- The headteacher of Prenton High School for Girls is Lisa Ayling, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Prenton High School for Girls been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Prenton High School for Girls, 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 Prenton High School for Girls?
- Prenton High School for Girls has 770 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Prenton High School for Girls full?
- Prenton High School for Girls has capacity for 790 pupils and 770 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 Prenton High School for Girls a faith school?
- No. Prenton High School for Girls has no designated religious character.
- Is Prenton High School for Girls a selective school?
- No. Prenton High School for Girls is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Prenton High School for Girls part of an academy trust?
- Prenton High School for Girls is part of PRENTON HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Prenton High School for Girls's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.3 in 2022/23 and 38.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Prenton High School for Girls compare with other schools in Wirral?
- Prenton High School for Girls ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Wirral for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Prenton High School for Girls's absence rate?
- Prenton High School for Girls's overall absence rate is 15% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Prenton High School for Girls's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Prenton High School for Girls'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 1 July 2026.