Willow Bank School

State-Funded School

willow-bank-school-st-helens-north-west

North WestRegion

St HelensLocal Authority

St Helens NorthConstituency

WA12 8DEPostcode

0.8

Academic Performance

Previous Ofsted

About the School

Willow Bank School is a state-funded special for pupils aged 8–16, located in St Helens, North West.

Ofsted's most recent inspection is published as a report card rather than a single overall grade. It currently serves 70 pupils.

Ofsted Report Card

Inspected 12 May 2026 · published 23 Jun 2026

Current inspection

Safeguarding standards

Met

Evaluation areas

Inclusion
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching
Needs attention
Achievement
Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour
Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing
Expected standard
Leadership and governance
Expected standard

Previous Ofsted Rating

Subject Areas (previous framework)

Leadership &management

Good

Academic Performance

Well below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 4.8
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 0%
EBacc average point score: 0.32

Ethnicity

White

97%

Mixed

Pupils

Total Pupils

84%Boys

16%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

70%

England average

27%

First language not English

England average

22%

Young carers

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Special
Age range: 8 – 16
Deprivation band: Most deprived
Total pupils: 70
IDACI quintile: 5 (Least deprived)

Inspection history

Ofsted has published one graded inspection for this school. The most recent ungraded inspection is shown below.

School remains Good

Ungraded inspection on 27 April 2022. An ungraded inspection checks whether the existing grade still holds; it does not award a new one.

Read the inspection letter on Ofsted

Report published					Overall
24 Mar 2016	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.