Birkdale High School
Windy Harbour Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 3DT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Boys
- Trust
- SOUTHPORT LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Gareth Banks
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Southport Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Sefton Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 940
- Pupils on roll
- 936
- URN
- 137297
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01704577253
About this school
Birkdale High School is a boys' secondary academy in Southport. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 936 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Birkdale 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 137 | 179 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.9 | 50.7 | 51.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.14 -0.38 to +0.10 | +0.22 +0.02 to +0.43 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 53.6% | 57.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 71.5% | 74.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 54% | 65.9% | 77.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.9 |
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 Birkdale 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 | Sefton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.9 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.7 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.9 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 890 |
| 2023/24 | 936 |
| 2024/25 | 923 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Birkdale High School compares
Birkdale High School ranked 2nd of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.9 | 7.7% | 21.8% | 936 | — |
| Greenbank High School | 50.6 | 9.4% | 19.7% | 1,025 | 0.7 miles |
| Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre | 41.8 | 9.1% | 31.9% | 822 | 1.3 miles |
| Meols Cop High School | 44.7 | 8.2% | 31.2% | 916 | 2.7 miles |
| Formby High School | 54.3 | 9.3% | 14.4% | 1,157 | 4.0 miles |
| Stanley High School | 40.6 | 9.2% | 24.2% | 783 | 4.5 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21.78%
- English as an additional language
- 11.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.7%
- Persistent absence
- 21.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Greenbank High School0.7 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre1.3 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Meols Cop High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Formby High School4.0 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Stanley High School4.5 miles
Secondary · Southport
Other schools in Southport
Birkdale High School ranks 1st of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Southport.
- Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Greenbank High School Secondary
- Meols Cop High School Secondary
- Stanley High School Secondary
- Crossens Nursery School Nursery
- Ainsdale St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Banks Methodist School Primary
- Banks St Stephen's CofE School Primary
- Birkdale Primary School Primary
- Bishop David Sheppard Church of England Primary School Primary
- Churchtown Primary School Primary
- Farnborough Road Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Birkdale High School teach?
- Birkdale High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southport.
- Who is the headteacher of Birkdale High School?
- The headteacher of Birkdale High School is Mr Gareth Banks, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Birkdale High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Birkdale 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 Birkdale High School?
- Birkdale High School has 936 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Birkdale High School full?
- Birkdale High School has capacity for 940 pupils and 936 on roll (100%), 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 Birkdale High School a faith school?
- No. Birkdale High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Birkdale High School a selective school?
- No. Birkdale High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Birkdale High School part of an academy trust?
- Birkdale High School is part of SOUTHPORT LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Birkdale High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.9 in 2022/23 and 51.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Birkdale High School compare with other schools in Sefton?
- Birkdale High School ranked 2nd of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Birkdale High School's absence rate?
- Birkdale High School's overall absence rate is 7.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Birkdale High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Birkdale 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 15 July 2026.