Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School

Liverpool · L12 9HZ

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1338 pupils, 32.8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 24.3% on SEN support Behaviour 7.6% absence rate Staff 13.1% turnover Financials £9,267 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School

General Information

Address: Honeysgreen Lane, Liverpool, L12 9HZ – View on map
Phone: 01512351430
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Karen Smyth
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 299 families put it first for 219 places – 14 for every 10 places. 62% of them were offered a place. 41 of the 219 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 14 · 2025 15 · 2026 14
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Boys
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1338 pupils out of 1394 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 378
% eligible for free school meals: 32.8%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (less mixed than the Liverpool average)
English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.1% a year (Liverpool 15.4%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 22% moved to another school, 78% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Liverpool: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 42 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 77 (2.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 31 (0.9 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Liverpool, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 24.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 137 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 114 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 33 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 16 pupils
Physical disability: 8 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 36 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 29 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card January 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
Sixth form (post-16) Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Attainment 8 score: 40.9
Compared with the area: 2.3 points below the Liverpool average (43.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+0.7 points against an expected 40.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 55% (Liverpool 59%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolLiverpool averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 2.3 points below the Liverpool average (43.2).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

16th of 29 secondary schools in Liverpool for Attainment 8

#14West Derby School42.0
#15Archbishop Beck Catholic College41.5
#16Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School40.9
#17St John Bosco Arts College39.4
#18The Studio School Liverpool39.4

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1The Blue Coat School79.5
#2Liverpool College55.1
#3King David High School54.3
#4The Belvedere Academy53.8
#5St Hilda's Church of England High School51.8
#6St Edward's College51.6
#7St Margaret's Church of England Academy49.6
#8Bellerive FCJ Catholic College47.3
#9Holly Lodge Girls' College47.2
#10St Julie's Catholic High School46.9
#11Liverpool Life Sciences UTC46.3
#12Calderstones School46.1
#13North Liverpool Academy45.6
#14West Derby School42.0
#15Archbishop Beck Catholic College41.5
#16Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School40.9
#17St John Bosco Arts College39.4
#18The Studio School Liverpool39.4
#19Broughton Hall Catholic High School39.2
#20St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy36.7
#21Childwall Sports & Science Academy36.2
#22The Academy of St Francis of Assisi35.8
#23King's Leadership Academy, Liverpool34.5
#24Dixons Broadgreen Academy34.4
#25Dixons Fazakerley Academy33.4
#26Dixons Croxteth Academy31.6
#27Notre Dame Catholic Academy31.0
#28The Academy of St Nicholas29.4
#29Alsop High School28.2

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 85.0%
Went into further education: 75.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Religious Studies
Art & Design
Geography
Business Studies
History
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Spanish
Computer Science
Speech & Drama
Music Studies (General)
Italian
Polish
Chinese
Sports Studies
French Language

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,267 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

5th of 29 secondary schools in Liverpool for spending per pupil

#3North Liverpool Academy£9,505
#4Notre Dame Catholic Academy£9,475
#5Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School£9,267
#6St John Bosco Arts College£9,260
#7Dixons Fazakerley Academy£9,259

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Dixons Croxteth Academy£9,714
#2King's Leadership Academy, Liverpool£9,693
#3North Liverpool Academy£9,505
#4Notre Dame Catholic Academy£9,475
#5Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School£9,267
#6St John Bosco Arts College£9,260
#7Dixons Fazakerley Academy£9,259
#8West Derby School£9,179
#9Archbishop Beck Catholic College£9,145
#10The Academy of St Nicholas£8,920
#11Holly Lodge Girls' College£8,666
#12The Studio School Liverpool£8,435
#13Liverpool Life Sciences UTC£8,366
#14St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy£8,335
#15Broughton Hall Catholic High School£8,268
#16Calderstones School£8,166
#17St Hilda's Church of England High School£8,158
#18Dixons Broadgreen Academy£8,141
#19St Julie's Catholic High School£7,983
#20The Academy of St Francis of Assisi£7,886
#21LIPA School£7,872
#22Bellerive FCJ Catholic College£7,854
#23Childwall Sports & Science Academy£7,851
#24Liverpool College£7,734
#25St Margaret's Church of England Academy£7,390
#26St Edward's College£7,239
#27The Belvedere Academy£7,102
#28Gateacre School£6,892
#29The Blue Coat School£6,885

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Liverpool: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered