Wade Deacon High School
Birchfield Road, Widnes, WA8 7TD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- WADE DEACON TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Brendan Hesketh
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Wade Deacon Trust
- Constituency
- Widnes and Halewood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,625
- Pupils on roll
- 1,658
- URN
- 139368
- Local authority
- Halton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01514232721
About this school
Wade Deacon High School is a secondary academy in Widnes. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,658 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Wade Deacon 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
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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 309 | 308 | 317 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.4 | 48.2 | 54.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.39 +0.23 to +0.55 | +0.17 +0.01 to +0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 57% | 46.8% | 62.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 68.8% | 76.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 57.1% | 47.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
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 Wade Deacon 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 | Halton average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52.4 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.2 | 32.7 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54 | 34.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,594 |
| 2023/24 | 1,614 |
| 2024/25 | 1,618 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Wade Deacon High School compares
Wade Deacon High School ranked 1st of 8 secondary schools in Halton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 85% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54 | 6.4% | 27% | 1,658 | — |
| Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School | 41.4 | 10.3% | 42.2% | 1,337 | 0.3 miles |
| Ormiston Chadwick Academy | 41.2 | 12.4% | 51.9% | 884 | 1.0 miles |
| Rainhill High School | 45.9 | 6% | 18.4% | 1,535 | 2.6 miles |
| Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy | 30.2 | 16.2% | 50.2% | 730 | 3.5 miles |
| The Heath School | 42.5 | 9% | 34.6% | 1,174 | 3.5 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.01%
- English as an additional language
- 4.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.38%
- Persistent absence
- 17.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School0.3 miles
Secondary · Widnes
-
Ormiston Chadwick Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Widnes
-
Rainhill High School2.6 miles
Secondary · Prescot
-
Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy3.5 miles
Secondary · Prescot
-
The Heath School3.5 miles
Secondary · Runcorn
Other schools in Widnes
- Ormiston Chadwick Academy Secondary
- Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School Secondary
- Aspiring Foundations Federated Nursery Schools - Ditton Nursery School Nursery
- Aspiring Foundations Federated Nursery Schools - Warrington Road Nursery School Nursery
- Birchfield Nursery School Nursery
- All Saints Upton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Cronton Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Ditton Primary School Primary
- Fairfield Primary School Primary
- Farnworth Church of England Controlled Primary School Primary
- Halebank CofE Primary School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School & Nursery Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Wade Deacon High School teach?
- Wade Deacon High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Widnes.
- Who is the principal of Wade Deacon High School?
- The principal of Wade Deacon High School is Mr Brendan Hesketh, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Wade Deacon High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Wade Deacon 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 Wade Deacon High School?
- Wade Deacon High School has 1,658 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Wade Deacon High School full?
- Wade Deacon High School has capacity for 1,625 pupils and 1,658 on roll (102%), 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 Wade Deacon High School a faith school?
- No. Wade Deacon High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Wade Deacon High School a selective school?
- No. Wade Deacon High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Wade Deacon High School part of an academy trust?
- Wade Deacon High School is part of WADE DEACON TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Wade Deacon High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.4 in 2022/23 and 54 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Wade Deacon High School compare with other schools in Halton?
- Wade Deacon High School ranked 1st of 8 secondary schools in Halton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 85% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Wade Deacon High School's absence rate?
- Wade Deacon High School's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Wade Deacon High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Wade Deacon 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.