King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes
Fernhill Road, Bootle, L20 6AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE GREAT SCHOOLS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Andrea St John
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- Christian
- Sponsor
- Great Schools Trust
- Constituency
- Bootle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 600
- Pupils on roll
- 708
- URN
- 138260
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01519223798
About this school
King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes is a secondary academy in Bootle. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 708 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes, 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
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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 64 | 104 | 106 |
| Attainment 8 score | 31.4 | 33.4 | 32.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.56 -0.96 to -0.17 | -0.57 -0.87 to -0.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 11% | 21.2% | 17% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 31% | 40.4% | 34.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 63% | 68.3% | 67% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.9 |
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 King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes 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 | 31.4 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 33.4 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32.2 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 553 |
| 2023/24 | 636 |
| 2024/25 | 668 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes compares
King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes ranked 17th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% 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 | 32.2 | 14.2% | 60.8% | 708 | — |
| The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco | 32.2 | 12.4% | 54.3% | 575 | 0.9 miles |
| Hillside High School | 39.8 | 10.6% | 54.7% | 785 | 1.1 miles |
| Litherland High School | 41.7 | 11.8% | 48.7% | 761 | 1.2 miles |
| Archbishop Beck Catholic College | 41.5 | 9.2% | 37.9% | 1,142 | 1.3 miles |
| Alsop High School | 28.2 | 17.1% | 57.7% | 1,336 | 1.4 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)
- 60.78%
- English as an additional language
- 17.2%
- Overall absence
- 14.15%
- Persistent absence
- 43.67%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco0.9 miles
Secondary · Bootle
-
Hillside High School1.1 miles
Secondary · Bootle
-
Litherland High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Archbishop Beck Catholic College1.3 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Alsop High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
Other schools in Bootle
- Hillside High School Secondary
- The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco Secondary
- Greenacre Community Nursery School Nursery
- All Saints Catholic Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Church of England Controlled Primary School Primary
- Holy Spirit Catholic Academy Primary
- Linacre Primary School Primary
- Linacre Primary School Primary
- Netherton Moss Primary School Primary
- Our Lady of Walsingham Primary School Primary
- Springwell Park Community Primary School Primary
- St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes teach?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bootle.
- Who is the headteacher of King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes?
- The headteacher of King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes is Mrs Andrea St John, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes, 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 King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes has 708 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes full?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes has capacity for 600 pupils and 708 on roll (118%), 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 King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes a faith school?
- No. King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes has no designated religious character.
- Is King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes a selective school?
- No. King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes part of an academy trust?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes is part of THE GREAT SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 31.4 in 2022/23 and 32.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes compare with other schools in Sefton?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes ranked 17th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% 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 King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes's absence rate?
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes's overall absence rate is 14.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes'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.