Holy Family Catholic High School

Sefton · L23 4UL

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1012 pupils, 26.8% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN SEN unit · 10.1% on SEN support Behaviour 9.2% absence rate Staff 9.2% turnover Financials £7,864 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

We haven't asked this school for its behaviour and staffing figures yet. Sign up to tell us you'd like them, and we'll email you when they arrive.

Notify me

Your email address

Leave this empty

We'll email you a link to confirm first. Your address is only used for news about this school, and every email has a link to stop them. Privacy

Holy Family Catholic High School

General Information

Address: Virgins Lane, Thornton, Liverpool, L23 4UL – View on map
Phone: 01519246451
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Matthew Symes
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 250 families put it first for 147 places – 17 for every 10 places. 57% of them were offered a place. 1 of the 147 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 15 · 2025 17 · 2026 17
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1012 pupils out of 869 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 231
% eligible for free school meals: 26.8%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Sefton average)
English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 9.2% a year (Sefton 13.6%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 24% moved to another school, 76% 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. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

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 Sefton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 5 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 16 (0.9 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 13 (0.8 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 Sefton, 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: 9.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 23.0%
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

SEN unit for Specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) 32 places · 24 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 10.1%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 27 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 26 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 26 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 5 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 18 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 13 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 11 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 6 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 –

Be the first to review — win £100 of books for your school Every honest review enters you into our prize draw

Behaviour

–

Openness

–

Teaching Quality

–

School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

–

Headteacher Approval

–

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.

–

Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2019 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 44.8
Compared with the area: in line with the Sefton average (44.3)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+1.0 points against an expected 43.8)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 63% (Sefton 62%, England 65%) Falling
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 schoolSefton averageEngland↘ Falling Down 3.2 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was in line with the Sefton average (44.3).

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.

5th of 17 secondary schools in Sefton for Attainment 8

#3Greenbank High School50.6
#4Chesterfield High School48.4
#5Holy Family Catholic High School44.8
#6Meols Cop High School44.7
#7Maricourt Catholic High School44.5

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Formby High School54.3
#2Birkdale High School51.9
#3Greenbank High School50.6
#4Chesterfield High School48.4
#5Holy Family Catholic High School44.8
#6Meols Cop High School44.7
#7Maricourt Catholic High School44.5
#8Range High School44.2
#9Deyes High School42.8
#10Sacred Heart Catholic Academy42.4
#11Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre41.8
#12Litherland High School41.7
#13Stanley High School40.6
#14Hillside High School39.8
#15Maghull High School39.6
#16King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes32.2
#17The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco32.2

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 93.0%
Went into further education: 89.0%
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
Religious Studies
Science Double Award
History
Geography
Sports Studies
Spanish
Art & Design
Food Technology
Computer Science
Speech & Drama
Biology
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
French Language
Dance: General
Polish
Photography

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

6th of 11 secondary schools in Sefton for Ofsted rating

#4Greenbank High SchoolGood
#5Hillside High SchoolGood
#6Holy Family Catholic High SchoolGood
#7King's Leadership Academy HawthornesGood
#8Litherland High SchoolGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Chesterfield High SchoolGood
#2Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form CentreGood
#3Formby High SchoolGood
#4Greenbank High SchoolGood
#5Hillside High SchoolGood
#6Holy Family Catholic High SchoolGood
#7King's Leadership Academy HawthornesGood
#8Litherland High SchoolGood
#9Meols Cop High SchoolGood
#10Range High SchoolGood
#11St Michaels Church of England AcademyInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,864 (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.

13th of 18 secondary schools in Sefton for spending per pupil

#11Maghull High School£7,943
#12Range High School£7,870
#13Holy Family Catholic High School£7,864
#14Greenbank High School£7,536
#15Birkdale High School£7,515

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

#1Sacred Heart Catholic Academy£9,036
#2The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco£8,912
#3Hillside High School£8,808
#4King's Leadership Academy Hawthornes£8,724
#5Meols Cop High School£8,667
#6Litherland High School£8,277
#7Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre£8,175
#8Formby High School£8,032
#9Maricourt Catholic High School£8,006
#10Stanley High School£7,970
#11Maghull High School£7,943
#12Range High School£7,870
#13Holy Family Catholic High School£7,864
#14Greenbank High School£7,536
#15Birkdale High School£7,515
#16Chesterfield High School£7,218
#17Deyes High School£6,621
#18St Michaels Church of England Academy£3,831

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

Have you rated Holy Family Catholic High School yet? Your experience helps other parents.

Rate this school

General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Sefton: 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 ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered