Halewood Academy
The Avenue, Wood Road, Knowsley, L26 1UU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- WADE DEACON TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Ian Critchely
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Wade Deacon Trust
- Constituency
- Widnes and Halewood
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,200
- Pupils on roll
- 1,131
- URN
- 139614
- Local authority
- Knowsley
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01514778830
About this school
Halewood Academy is a secondary academy in Knowsley. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,131 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 194 | 211 | 223 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.5 | 38.9 | 41.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.65 -0.85 to -0.44 | -0.47 -0.66 to -0.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 24.2% | 37.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 43.1% | 56.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 32% | 29.4% | 31.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
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 Halewood Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Knowsley average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.5 | 27.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.9 | 27.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.6 | 28.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,104 |
| 2023/24 | 1,146 |
| 2024/25 | 1,140 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Halewood Academy compares
Halewood Academy ranked 1st of 6 secondary schools in Knowsley for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% 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 | 41.6 | 9.3% | 48% | 1,131 | — |
| St Julie's Catholic High School | 46.9 | 8.3% | 27.6% | 1,018 | 1.3 miles |
| The Academy of St Nicholas | 29.4 | 11.7% | 57.4% | 841 | 2.1 miles |
| St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy | 36.7 | 11.1% | 32.5% | 939 | 2.2 miles |
| Gateacre School | — | 14.2% | 46.9% | 1,196 | 2.3 miles |
| Calderstones School | 46.1 | 7.9% | 21.9% | 1,592 | 3.0 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)
- 47.98%
- English as an additional language
- 3.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.25%
- Persistent absence
- 29.19%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Julie's Catholic High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
The Academy of St Nicholas2.1 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Gateacre School2.3 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Calderstones School3.0 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
Other schools in Knowsley
- All Saints Catholic High School Secondary
- Hope Primary School - A Joint Catholic and Church of England Primary School Primary
- Roby Park Primary School Primary
- Yew Tree Primary Academy Primary
- Meadow Park School Local authority maintained schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Halewood Academy teach?
- Halewood Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Knowsley.
- Who is the principal of Halewood Academy?
- The principal of Halewood Academy is Mr Ian Critchely, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Halewood Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Halewood Academy, 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 Halewood Academy?
- Halewood Academy has 1,131 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Halewood Academy full?
- Halewood Academy has capacity for 1,200 pupils and 1,131 on roll (94%), so it has space against 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 Halewood Academy a faith school?
- No. Halewood Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Halewood Academy a selective school?
- No. Halewood Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Halewood Academy?
- Halewood Academy 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 Halewood Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.5 in 2022/23 and 41.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Halewood Academy rank locally?
- Halewood Academy ranked 1st of 6 secondary schools in Knowsley for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 44% 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 Halewood Academy's absence rate?
- Halewood Academy's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Halewood Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Halewood Academy'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.