Formby High School
Freshfield Road, Formby, Liverpool, L37 3HW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- FORMBY HIGH SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr Alex Wood
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Sefton Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 989
- Pupils on roll
- 1,157
- URN
- 137436
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01704873100
About this school
Formby High School is a secondary academy in Liverpool. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,157 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 179 | 192 | 187 |
| Attainment 8 score | 51.9 | 54.4 | 54.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.02 -0.19 to +0.23 | +0.43 +0.23 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 59.4% | 66.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 75.5% | 78.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 30.7% | 18.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
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 Formby 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 | 51.9 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.4 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54.3 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,123 |
| 2023/24 | 1,099 |
| 2024/25 | 1,103 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Formby High School compares
Formby High School ranked 1st of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54.3 | 9.3% | 14.4% | 1,157 | — |
| Range High School | 44.2 | 9.6% | 15.5% | 979 | 1.2 miles |
| Birkdale High School | 51.9 | 7.7% | 21.8% | 936 | 4.0 miles |
| St Michaels Church of England Academy | — | 13.5% | — | 547 | 4.6 miles |
| Greenbank High School | 50.6 | 9.4% | 19.7% | 1,025 | 4.6 miles |
| Holy Family Catholic High School | 44.8 | 9.2% | 26.7% | 1,012 | 4.9 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)
- 14.38%
- English as an additional language
- 2.7%
- Overall absence
- 9.28%
- Persistent absence
- 23.89%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Range High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Birkdale High School4.0 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
St Michaels Church of England Academy4.6 miles
Secondary · Crosby
-
Greenbank High School4.6 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Holy Family Catholic High School4.9 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
Other schools in Liverpool
Formby High School ranks 4th of the 40 ranked secondary schools in Liverpool.
- Alsop High School Secondary
- Archbishop Beck Catholic College Secondary
- Archbishop Blanch CofE High School Secondary
- Bellerive FCJ Catholic College Secondary
- Broughton Hall Catholic High School Secondary
- Calderstones School Secondary
- Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Secondary
- Chesterfield High School Secondary
- Childwall Sports & Science Academy Secondary
- Deyes High School Secondary
- Dixons Broadgreen Academy Secondary
- Dixons Croxteth Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Formby High School teach?
- Formby High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Liverpool.
- Who is the headteacher of Formby High School?
- The headteacher of Formby High School is Mr Alex Wood, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Formby High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Formby 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 Formby High School?
- Formby High School has 1,157 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Formby High School full?
- Formby High School has capacity for 989 pupils and 1,157 on roll (117%), 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 Formby High School a faith school?
- No. Formby High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Formby High School a selective school?
- No. Formby High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Formby High School?
- Formby High School is part of FORMBY HIGH SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Formby High School have?
- The schools register lists Formby High School's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Formby High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 51.9 in 2022/23 and 54.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Formby High School rank locally?
- Formby High School ranked 1st of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Formby High School's absence rate?
- Formby High School's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Formby High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Formby 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 1 July 2026.