Hillside High School
Breeze Hill, Bootle, L20 9NU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WADE DEACON TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Amanda Ryan
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Wade Deacon Trust
- Constituency
- Bootle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 921
- Pupils on roll
- 785
- URN
- 141693
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01515252630
About this school
Hillside High School is a secondary academy in Bootle. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 785 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Hillside 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. 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
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 128 | 121 | 130 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.2 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.48 -0.73 to -0.22 | -0.47 -0.74 to -0.20 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 25.6% | 34.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 44.6% | 51.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 43% | 44.6% | 57.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.2 | 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 Hillside 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 | 40.2 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 35.1 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.8 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 661 |
| 2023/24 | 696 |
| 2024/25 | 741 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hillside High School compares
Hillside High School ranked 14th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.8 | 10.6% | 54.7% | 785 | — |
| Alsop High School | 28.2 | 17.1% | 57.7% | 1,336 | 0.5 miles |
| King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes | 32.2 | 14.2% | 60.8% | 708 | 1.1 miles |
| Archbishop Beck Catholic College | 41.5 | 9.2% | 37.9% | 1,142 | 1.4 miles |
| Notre Dame Catholic Academy | 31 | 15.1% | 54.2% | 968 | 1.6 miles |
| North Liverpool Academy | 45.6 | 6.7% | 57.6% | 1,269 | 1.7 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)
- 54.66%
- English as an additional language
- 17.5%
- Overall absence
- 10.58%
- Persistent absence
- 31.37%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Alsop High School0.5 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes1.1 miles
Secondary · Bootle
-
Archbishop Beck Catholic College1.4 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
Notre Dame Catholic Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
-
North Liverpool Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Liverpool
Other schools in Bootle
- King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes 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 Hillside High School teach?
- Hillside High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bootle.
- Who is the principal of Hillside High School?
- The principal of Hillside High School is Mrs Amanda Ryan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Hillside High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hillside 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 Hillside High School?
- Hillside High School has 785 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Hillside High School full?
- Hillside High School has capacity for 921 pupils and 785 on roll (85%), 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 Hillside High School a faith school?
- No. Hillside High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Hillside High School a selective school?
- No. Hillside High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Hillside High School part of an academy trust?
- Hillside 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 Hillside High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.2 in 2022/23 and 39.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hillside High School compare with other schools in Sefton?
- Hillside High School ranked 14th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 6% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hillside High School's absence rate?
- Hillside High School's overall absence rate is 10.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hillside High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hillside 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.