Neston High School
Raby Park Road, Neston, CH64 9NH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NESTON HIGH SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Ms Kirsty Cunningham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,719
- Pupils on roll
- 1,712
- URN
- 138318
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01513363902
About this school
Neston High School is a secondary academy in Neston. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,712 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Neston 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 9 February 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 | 301 | 297 | 299 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.1 | 45.1 | 43.4 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.18 +0.02 to +0.34 | +0.22 +0.05 to +0.38 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 42.1% | 36.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 70% | 66.7% | 64.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 31% | 25.6% | 32.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
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 Neston 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 | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.1 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.1 | 40.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.4 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,757 |
| 2023/24 | 1,729 |
| 2024/25 | 1,724 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Neston High School compares
Neston High School ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.4 | 8.4% | 19.5% | 1,712 | — |
| South Wirral High School | — | — | — | 1,019 | 3.3 miles |
| Wirral Grammar School for Boys | 65.4 | 4% | 9.5% | 1,123 | 3.9 miles |
| Wirral Grammar School for Girls | 69.3 | 5% | 9.2% | 1,224 | 3.9 miles |
| Pensby High School | 44.8 | 7.7% | 23.6% | 915 | 4.0 miles |
| Co-op Academy Bebington | 37.3 | 9.9% | 51.7% | 1,044 | 4.2 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)
- 19.49%
- English as an additional language
- 2.2%
- Overall absence
- 8.39%
- Persistent absence
- 23.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
South Wirral High School3.3 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Wirral Grammar School for Boys3.9 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Wirral Grammar School for Girls3.9 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Pensby High School4.0 miles
Secondary · Wirral
-
Co-op Academy Bebington4.2 miles
Secondary · Wirral
Other schools in Neston
- Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School Primary
- Neston Primary School Primary
- Parkgate Primary School Primary
- St Winefride's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Willaston CofE Primary School Primary
- Woodfall Primary and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Neston High School teach?
- Neston High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Neston.
- Who is the headteacher of Neston High School?
- The headteacher of Neston High School is Ms Kirsty Cunningham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Neston High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Neston 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 Neston High School?
- Neston High School has 1,712 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Neston High School full?
- Neston High School has capacity for 1,719 pupils and 1,712 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 Neston High School a faith school?
- No. Neston High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Neston High School a selective school?
- No. Neston High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Neston High School part of an academy trust?
- Neston High School is part of NESTON HIGH SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Neston High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.1 in 2022/23 and 43.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Neston High School compare with other schools in Cheshire West and Chester?
- Neston High School ranked 13th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Neston High School's absence rate?
- Neston High School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Neston High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Neston 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.