Schools in Sefton
112 schools in the Sefton local authority.
Schools
112
Open schools
Pupils
41,768
2025–26 census
Good or better
92%
88 of 96 graded
Academic Performance
4.4
out of 10 · 104 schools
Ofsted ratings
- Outstanding
- 8 8%
- Good
- 80 83%
- Requires improvement
- 5 5%
- Inadequate
- 3 3%
6 inspected since 2024, no overall grade9 superseded by a report card10 not judged2 in a category of concern
4.4
Academic PerformanceAveraged over 104 of 112 schools that can be scored
Pupils
41,768
pupils on roll
Boys 51%49% Girls
Ethnicity
White
90%Asian
2%Black
2%Mixed
3%Chinese
<1%Any other group
1%Unclassified
<1%Ethnicity from 103 of 112 schools (39,948 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Pupil characteristics
- Free school meals
- 27.2%
- First language not English
- 8.5%
- Young carers
- 1.3%
10,859 of 39,948 pupils · 103 of 112 schools
3,407 of 39,948 pupils · 103 of 112 schools
535 of 39,736 pupils · 100 of 112 schools
Schools by phase
- Primary
- 74
- Secondary
- 18
- All-through
- 2
- Special
- 11
- Nursery
- 3
- PRU
- 2
- Not recorded
- 2
Top primary schools in Sefton
The 20 highest-scoring primary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.St Thomas Church of England Primary School, LydiateSefton · Primary9.9/10Outstanding
- 2.St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary9.8/10Outstanding
- 3.Freshfield Primary SchoolSefton · Primary9.7/10Outstanding
- 4.Ainsdale St John's Church of England Primary SchoolSefton · Primary9.4/10Outstanding
- 5.Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary SchoolSefton · Primary9.4/10Outstanding
- 6.Rimrose Hope CofE Primary SchoolSefton · Primary9.2/10Outstanding
- 7.St Nicholas Church of England Primary SchoolSefton · Primary8.5/10Good
- 8.Melling Primary SchoolSefton · Primary8.1/10Good
- 9.St Philip's Church of England Primary SchoolSefton · Primary8.1/10Good
- 10.Shoreside Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.9/10Good
- 11.Litherland Moss Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.7/10Good
- 12.Aintree Davenhill Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.5/10Good
- 13.St Gregory's Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.5/10Good
- 14.Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.4/10Good
- 15.St Luke's Halsall Church of England Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.3/10Good
- 16.St Patrick's Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.1/10Good
- 17.St Jerome's Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary7.0/10Good
- 18.Farnborough Road Junior SchoolSefton · Primary6.9/10Good
- 19.Green Park Primary SchoolSefton · Primary6.9/10Good
- 20.St George's Catholic Primary SchoolSefton · Primary6.8/10Good
Top secondary schools in Sefton
The highest-scoring secondary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.Formby High SchoolSefton · Secondary8.3/10Good
- 2.Birkdale High SchoolSefton · Secondary8.1/10Good
- 3.Greenbank High SchoolSefton · Secondary7.6/10Good
- 4.Chesterfield High SchoolSefton · Secondary7.1/10Good
- 5.Holy Family Catholic High SchoolSefton · Secondary4.0/10Good
- 6.Maricourt Catholic High SchoolSefton · Secondary3.8/10Good
- 7.Range High SchoolSefton · Secondary3.7/10Good
- 8.Meols Cop High SchoolSefton · Secondary3.5/10Good
- 9.Deyes High SchoolSefton · Secondary3.3/10
- 10.Sacred Heart Catholic AcademySefton · Secondary3.3/10
- 11.Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form CentreSefton · Secondary2.9/10Good
- 12.Litherland High SchoolSefton · Secondary2.7/10Good
- 13.Stanley High SchoolSefton · Secondary2.7/10
- 14.Hillside High SchoolSefton · Secondary2.6/10Good
- 15.Maghull High SchoolSefton · Secondary2.1/10Good
- 16.King's Leadership Academy HawthornesSefton · Secondary1.2/10Good
- 17.St Michaels Church of England AcademySefton · Secondary0.3/10Inadequate
- 18.The Salesian Academy of St John BoscoSefton · Secondary0.1/10Inadequate
Browse all 112 schools in Sefton — filter by phase or Ofsted rating.
About schools in Sefton
- How many schools are there in Sefton?
- Sefton has 112 open schools — 74 primary, 18 secondary, 11 special, 3 nursery, teaching 41,768 pupils in total.
- How many schools in Sefton are rated Good or Outstanding?
- 88 of the 96 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 92% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 8 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 112: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
- What is the average Academic Performance in Sefton?
- 4.4 out of 10, averaged across the 104 schools here that can be scored, where 5 is the national average. Academic Performance combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment and is ranked against comparable schools, so it is neither figure on its own.
- Why do some Sefton schools have no Ofsted rating?
- 16 schools in Sefton currently hold no overall grade. Ofsted stopped awarding single-word judgements in September 2024 and moved to a report card of separately graded areas, so schools inspected since then have no overall rating whatever the inspection found. Their profiles show the report card instead.
- What does Sefton local authority do?
- A local authority is the body responsible for state education in its area — the level most admissions and school-place decisions are made at. Sefton covers 112 schools and sits in the North West region. It does not run academies or independent schools directly, though it still coordinates admissions for most of them.
- How many pupils in Sefton are eligible for free school meals?
- 27.2% — 10,859 of 39,948 pupils at the 103 schools that report it. Independent schools file a return with roll and sex only, so they are outside this figure rather than counted as zero.
Part of the North West region.