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Schools in North West

3,528 schools in North West.

Schools

3,528

Open schools

Pupils

1,172,413

2025–26 census

Good or better

90%

2546 of 2822 graded

Academic Performance

4.8

out of 10 · 3216 schools

Ofsted ratings

Outstanding
301 11%
Good
2,245 80%
Requires improvement
224 8%
Inadequate
52 2%
279 inspected since 2024, no overall grade357 superseded by a report card427 not judged44 in a category of concern21 safeguarding not effective
4.8
Academic Performance

Averaged over 3216 of 3528 schools that can be scored

Pupils

1,172,413

pupils on roll

Boys 51%49% Girls

Roll from 3474 of 3528 schools (1,172,413 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.

Ethnicity

White
72%
Asian
13%
Black
5%
Mixed
5%
Chinese
1%
Any other group
3%
Unclassified
1%

Ethnicity from 3151 of 3528 schools (1,123,158 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.

Pupil characteristics

Free school meals
29.7%

333,734 of 1,123,310 pupils · 3152 of 3528 schools

First language not English
18.9%

212,147 of 1,123,158 pupils · 3151 of 3528 schools

Young carers
<1%

9,270 of 1,117,845 pupils · 3089 of 3528 schools

Schools by phase

Primary
2474
Secondary
479
All-through
42
Special
230
Nursery
62
PRU
51
Not recorded
190

Local authorities in North West

24 local authorities, alphabetically. Percentages are of graded schools.

Local authoritySchoolsPupilsGood or betterAcademic Performance
Blackburn with Darwen8829,750
96%of 70
5.0/10
Blackpool4919,656
85%of 40
4.1/10
Bolton14157,057
95%of 110
5.7/10
Bury9028,113
83%of 72
4.7/10
Cheshire East17560,016
93%of 136
5.2/10
Cheshire West and Chester17754,556
93%of 137
5.1/10
Cumberland17839,292
94%of 145
4.0/10
Halton7018,398
88%of 58
4.4/10
Knowsley6321,739
88%of 50
4.3/10
Lancashire690183,281
91%of 564
4.9/10
Liverpool18678,190
89%of 150
4.8/10
Manchester20895,926
87%of 164
4.5/10
Oldham12645,996
88%of 89
4.1/10
Rochdale10338,083
87%of 78
4.2/10
Salford13343,937
78%of 110
4.1/10
Sefton11241,768
92%of 96
4.4/10
St Helens7526,806
86%of 59
4.5/10
Stockport13447,104
84%of 105
4.9/10
Tameside10736,420
89%of 85
4.6/10
Trafford10144,722
91%of 79
6.6/10
Warrington9031,467
100%of 73
6.2/10
Westmorland and Furness16031,227
95%of 132
4.7/10
Wigan13748,379
97%of 111
5.5/10
Wirral13550,530
84%of 109
4.0/10

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About schools in North West

How many schools are there in North West?
North West has 3,528 open schools — 2,474 primary, 479 secondary, 230 special, 62 nursery, teaching 1,172,413 pupils in total.
How many schools in North West are rated Good or Outstanding?
2,546 of the 2,822 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 90% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 301 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 3,528: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
What is the average Academic Performance in North West?
4.8 out of 10, averaged across the 3,216 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 North West schools have no Ofsted rating?
706 schools in North West 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.
Which local authorities are in North West?
North West contains 24 local authorities, including Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bury, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and 18 more. Most admissions and school-place decisions are made at that level rather than regionally.
How many pupils in North West are eligible for free school meals?
29.7% — 333,734 of 1,123,310 pupils at the 3,152 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.