Schools in St Helens
75 schools in the St Helens local authority.
Schools
75
Open schools
Pupils
26,806
2025–26 census
Good or better
86%
51 of 59 graded
Academic Performance
4.5
out of 10 · 72 schools
Ofsted ratings
- Outstanding
- 6 10%
- Good
- 45 76%
- Requires improvement
- 7 12%
- Inadequate
- 1 2%
5 inspected since 2024, no overall grade13 superseded by a report card11 not judged1 safeguarding not effective
4.5
Academic PerformanceAveraged over 72 of 75 schools that can be scored
Pupils
26,806
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 70 of 75 schools (26,401 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Pupil characteristics
- Free school meals
- 28.3%
- First language not English
- 7.1%
- Young carers
- 2.3%
7,460 of 26,401 pupils · 70 of 75 schools
1,882 of 26,401 pupils · 70 of 75 schools
596 of 26,351 pupils · 69 of 75 schools
Schools by phase
- Primary
- 54
- Secondary
- 9
- All-through
- 1
- Special
- 4
- Nursery
- 1
- PRU
- 2
- Not recorded
- 4
Top primary schools in St Helens
The 20 highest-scoring primary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.St Mary & St Thomas CofE Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary9.8/10Outstanding
- 2.Bleak Hill Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary9.7/10Outstanding
- 3.Garswood Primary and Nursery SchoolSt Helens · Primary9.6/10Outstanding
- 4.Parish Church of England Primary School, St HelensSt Helens · Primary9.5/10Outstanding
- 5.St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary9.0/10Good
- 6.Grange Valley Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.8/10Outstanding
- 7.St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.8/10Good
- 8.Eccleston Lane Ends Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.7/10
- 9.St Julie's Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.4/10
- 10.St Peter's CofE Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.3/10
- 11.Eccleston Mere Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.1/10Good
- 12.St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary8.1/10Good
- 13.Queen's Park CofE/Urc Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary7.9/10Good
- 14.Holy Spirit Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary7.8/10Good
- 15.St Ann's Church of England Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary7.7/10
- 16.Eaves Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary7.6/10Good
- 17.St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Devon StreetSt Helens · Primary7.6/10Good
- 18.Nutgrove Methodist Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary7.3/10
- 19.Rainford CofE Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary6.5/10Good
- 20.Thatto Heath Community Primary SchoolSt Helens · Primary6.3/10Good
Top secondary schools in St Helens
The highest-scoring secondary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.Rainford High SchoolSt Helens · Secondary7.7/10Good
- 2.Rainhill High SchoolSt Helens · Secondary5.6/10Good
- 3.The Sutton AcademySt Helens · Secondary3.4/10Good
- 4.Hope AcademySt Helens · Secondary3.3/10
- 5.Outwood Academy HaydockSt Helens · Secondary2.7/10
- 6.St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic AcademySt Helens · Secondary2.7/10
- 7.Cowley International CollegeSt Helens · Secondary2.2/10Good
- 8.St Cuthbert's Catholic High SchoolSt Helens · Secondary1.3/10Good
- 9.De La Salle SchoolSt Helens · Secondary0.6/10Requires improvement
Browse all 75 schools in St Helens — filter by phase or Ofsted rating.
About schools in St Helens
- How many schools are there in St Helens?
- St Helens has 75 open schools — 54 primary, 9 secondary, 4 special, 1 nursery, teaching 26,806 pupils in total.
- How many schools in St Helens are rated Good or Outstanding?
- 51 of the 59 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 86% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 6 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 75: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
- What is the average Academic Performance in St Helens?
- 4.5 out of 10, averaged across the 72 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 St Helens schools have no Ofsted rating?
- 16 schools in St Helens 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 St Helens 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. St Helens covers 75 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 St Helens are eligible for free school meals?
- 28.3% — 7,460 of 26,401 pupils at the 70 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.