Meols Cop High School
Meols Cop Road, Southport, PR8 6JS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SOUTHPORT LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Martin Davis
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Southport Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Southport
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 925
- Pupils on roll
- 916
- URN
- 149828
- Local authority
- Sefton
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01704531180
About this school
Meols Cop High School is a secondary academy in Southport. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 916 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
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
This inspection took place when the school was registered as Meols Cop High School (URN 104956).
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 170 | 173 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.1 | 44.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.17 -0.39 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34.7% | 35.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 50.6% | 60.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24.1% | 23.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.8 |
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 Meols Cop 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 | — | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.1 | 36.9 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.7 | 35.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 897 |
| 2024/25 | 906 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Meols Cop High School compares
Meols Cop High School ranked 6th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% 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 | 44.7 | 8.2% | 31.2% | 916 | — |
| Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre | 41.8 | 9.1% | 31.9% | 822 | 1.4 miles |
| Stanley High School | 40.6 | 9.2% | 24.2% | 783 | 2.1 miles |
| Greenbank High School | 50.6 | 9.4% | 19.7% | 1,025 | 2.5 miles |
| Birkdale High School | 51.9 | 7.7% | 21.8% | 936 | 2.7 miles |
| Burscough Priory Academy | 48.8 | 7.9% | 16.1% | 729 | 5.9 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)
- 31.24%
- English as an additional language
- 11.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.21%
- Persistent absence
- 23.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre1.4 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Stanley High School2.1 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Greenbank High School2.5 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Birkdale High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Southport
-
Burscough Priory Academy5.9 miles
Secondary · Ormskirk
Other schools in Southport
Meols Cop High School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Southport.
- Birkdale High School Secondary
- Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Greenbank High School Secondary
- Stanley High School Secondary
- Crossens Nursery School Nursery
- Ainsdale St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Banks Methodist School Primary
- Banks St Stephen's CofE School Primary
- Birkdale Primary School Primary
- Bishop David Sheppard Church of England Primary School Primary
- Churchtown Primary School Primary
- Farnborough Road Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Meols Cop High School teach?
- Meols Cop High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southport.
- Who is the headteacher of Meols Cop High School?
- The headteacher of Meols Cop High School is Mr Martin Davis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Meols Cop High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Meols Cop 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 big is Meols Cop High School?
- Meols Cop High School has 916 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Meols Cop High School full?
- Meols Cop High School has capacity for 925 pupils and 916 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Meols Cop High School a faith school?
- No. Meols Cop High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Meols Cop High School a selective school?
- No. Meols Cop High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Meols Cop High School?
- Meols Cop High School is part of SOUTHPORT LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Meols Cop High School have?
- The schools register lists Meols Cop High School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Meols Cop High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.1 in 2023/24 and 44.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Meols Cop High School rank locally?
- Meols Cop High School ranked 6th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% 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 Meols Cop High School's absence rate?
- Meols Cop High School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Meols Cop High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Meols Cop 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 10 July 2026.