Wade Deacon High School

Halton · WA8 7TD

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 1658 pupils, 25.7% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Outstanding

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 10.3% on SEN support Behaviour 6.4% absence rate Staff 14.8% turnover Financials £7,791 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Wade Deacon High School

General Information

Address: Birchfield Road, Widnes, WA8 7TD – View on map
Phone: 01514232721
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Brendan Hesketh
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 393 families put it first for 343 places – 11 for every 10 places. 87% of them were offered a place. 1 of the 343 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 12 · 2024 13 · 2025 11 · 2026 11
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1658 pupils out of 1625 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 426
% eligible for free school meals: 25.7%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (similar to the Halton average)
English as an additional language: 5% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 14.8% a year (Halton 14.8%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 43% moved to another school, 57% 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 Halton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 24 (3.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 3 (0.4 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 4 (0.5 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 Halton, 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: 6.4%
Persistently absent pupils: 17.4%
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: 10.3%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 65 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 47 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 28 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 14 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 8 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 17 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 14 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 5 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 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

Outstanding 2022 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: 54.0
Compared with the area: 10.7 points above the Halton average (43.3)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+9.7 points against an expected 44.3)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 77% (Halton 61%, 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 schoolHalton 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 10.7 points above the Halton average (43.3).

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.

1st of 8 secondary schools in Halton for Attainment 8

#1Wade Deacon High School54.0
#2Sandymoor Ormiston Academy44.4
#3The Heath School42.5

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Wade Deacon High School54.0
#2Sandymoor Ormiston Academy44.4
#3The Heath School42.5
#4Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School41.4
#5Ormiston Chadwick Academy41.2
#6The Grange School36.4
#7Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy35.9
#8Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy33.3

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
Science Double Award
Geography
French Language
History
Art & Design
Business Studies
Food Technology
Computer Science
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
D & T
Speech & Drama
Sports Studies
Music Studies (General)
Spanish
Religious Studies
Greek
Polish
Chinese
Arabic
Japanese 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

1st of 5 secondary schools in Halton for Ofsted rating

#1Wade Deacon High SchoolOutstanding
#2Ormiston Chadwick AcademyGood
#3Saints Peter and Paul Catholic 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

#1Wade Deacon High SchoolOutstanding
#2Ormiston Chadwick AcademyGood
#3Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High SchoolGood
#4Sandymoor Ormiston AcademyGood
#5The Grange SchoolGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,791 (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.

7th of 8 secondary schools in Halton for spending per pupil

#5Ormiston Chadwick Academy£8,424
#6Sandymoor Ormiston Academy£8,130
#7Wade Deacon High School£7,791
#8The Heath School£7,489

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

#1Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy£10,094
#2Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy£9,613
#3The Grange School£9,238
#4Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School£8,634
#5Ormiston Chadwick Academy£8,424
#6Sandymoor Ormiston Academy£8,130
#7Wade Deacon High School£7,791
#8The Heath School£7,489

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 Halton: 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