A council (local authority) in the North West
In short: Most primary schools here are rated Good or better, about the same as across England. Results at 11 are below England, and results at 16 were below England in 2026. Missing school is a bigger problem than across England.
Sefton at a glance
How Sefton's schools compare with England, area by area.
Primary and secondary schools are ranked by Eduscope score, which weighs up results, inspections, attendance and more. Nurseries, special and independent schools aren't ranked. A high score isn't everything: always visit.
74 mainstream schools in Sefton, best first
Liverpool, L31 0BP · Academy · Primary · Ages 3 to 11
Results well above the England average.
31 first choices, 30 offers made
Met the standard at 1186%
England 62%
Results well above the England average.
56 first choices, 30 offers made
Met the standard at 1190%
England 62%
Results well above the England average.
32 first choices, 30 offers made
Met the standard at 1176%
England 62%
18 mainstream schools in Sefton, best first
Results above the England average.
188 first choices, 190 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1651.7
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
185 first choices, 168 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1651.5
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
210 first choices, 204 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1649.9
England 46.2
63 in Sefton, highest Ofsted grade first
Liverpool, L23 5TW · Nursery
Nurseries don't sit tests, so there are no results to compare.
Southport, PR9 0TS · Nursery
Nurseries don't sit tests, so there are no results to compare.
Southport, PR9 7NN · Nursery
Nurseries don't sit tests, so there are no results to compare.
16 in Sefton, by the school's Eduscope score
Results above the England average.
185 first choices, 168 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1651.5
England 46.2
Results above the England average.
126 first choices, 144 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1650.2
England 46.2
Results close to the England average.
327 first choices, 305 offers made
Attainment 8 at 1648.0
England 46.2
15 in Sefton. Eduscope doesn't rank these.
Southport, PR8 2QZ · Academy · All-through · Ages 3 to 19
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Liverpool, L21 0DB · Academy · All-through · Ages 3 to 19
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Liverpool, L31 4EQ · Independent · Primary · Ages 5 to 11
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
10 in Sefton. Eduscope doesn't rank these.
Liverpool, L31 4EQ · Independent · Primary · Ages 5 to 11
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Liverpool, L30 4UE · Independent · All-through · Ages 8 to 16
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Liverpool, L23 5TD · Independent · All-through · Ages 7 to 16
Specialist provision. Results aren't published in the same way.
Results
Not published for this kind of school.
Each dot is a school or nursery, coloured by its latest Ofsted grade. Point at a dot to see its name, or use the list.
Apply through the council where you live, even for a school in another council's area. Independent schools take applications directly.
Sefton is a metropolitan borough in the North West with 74 mainstream primary schools and 18 mainstream secondary schools. Towns with the most schools include Southport, Crosby and Bootle. 89.0% got their first-choice secondary school, against 83.6% across England.
From Sefton council's website, checked 7 November 2026. Check the council's pages before you apply.
School admissions team: 0151 934 3590
If a date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, offers go out the next working day.
91.4%got their first-choice primary school in Sefton in 2026. England: 92.4%. Ranked 101 of 151 councils. 98.6% got one of their top three.3.4% were offered a primary school in another council. England: 3.6%.
89.0%got their first-choice secondary school in Sefton in 2026. England: 83.6%. Ranked 51 of 151 councils. 97.3% got one of their top three.3.2% were offered a secondary school in another council. England: 8.0%.
Source: DfE applications and offers, 2026. A low rate shows high demand, not poor schools.
16 of 85 primary appeals heard in Sefton succeeded in 2025. 68 of 226 secondary appeals heard in Sefton succeeded in 2025.
Pick a stage to see every Sefton school for that age, with filters for type, faith and Ofsted grade.
Ages 0 to 4
All 50 inspected are Good or better.
63nurseries
Ages 4 to 11
97% Good or better. 58% met the standard at 11.
84schools
Ages 11 to 16
8 Good, 1 need to improve. 39% got grade 5 in English and maths.
34schools
2 Outstanding, 6 Good, 1 need to improve. About 7 pupils per teacher.
15schools
Here's how Sefton's schools break down by type, faith and more.
The blue bar is the average Eduscope score of the primary schools in each town. The black line is the Sefton average, 44.
Some areas, like parts of a bigger town, are easiest to find by postcode.
Inspections, exam results and attendance, next to the figure for England where we have it.
SeftonEngland
Primaries rated Good or Outstanding
Latest Ofsted grade, 60 primaries with one.
97%
England 96%
Close to England
Secondaries rated Good or Outstanding
8 of the 9 with a grade.
89%
England 93%
Close to England
Met the expected standard at 11
Reading, writing and maths.
58%
England 62%
Grade 5 or above in English and maths
At GCSE.
39%
Pupils who miss a lot of school
Missed 1 in 10 days or more. Lower is better.
21%
England 18%
Primary pupils on free school meals
A sign of family income, not of school quality.
26%
Latest graded inspection for the 82 schools that have one.
94%
Good or Outstanding
Sefton in blue. There were no tests in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid.
The latest published year for each measure. Sources and years are on our data sources page.
| Measure | Sefton | England |
|---|---|---|
| Good or Outstanding (Ofsted) | 94% | 95% |
| Met the expected standard at 11 (KS2) | 58% | 62% |
| Attainment 8 | 43.0 | 46.2 |
| Persistent absence | 21% | 18% |
| Pupils per teacher | 18.0:1 | 17.9:1 |
| Spending per pupil | £8,301 | £8,120 |
| In education or work after 16 | 89% | 91% |
| Went on to higher education | 54% | 56% |
| Pupils with special educational needs | 24% | 21% |
| Pupils with English as an additional language | 9% | 22% |
| Pupils on free school meals | 27% | 27% |
DfE local authority code 343, ONS code E08000014.
Sefton has 174 schools and nurseries across 7 towns and villages, the biggest being Southport, Crosby, Bootle and Maghull.
Pupil numbers are about the same as in 2018.
26% of primary pupils here get free school meals. Schools get extra money for each of them.
Pupils in Sefton's state schools each January.
Up 1% since 2018. More children can mean popular schools fill up faster.
Out of every 10 primary pupils, how many get free school meals. It's a sign of family income, not of school quality.
Sefton26%
Follow any school and we'll email you when it gets a new Ofsted report or new results are out. Nothing else.
Sefton has 174 schools, including 84 primary schools, 34 secondary schools, 63 nurseries, 10 independent schools, 15 special schools. Some count in more than one group. You can browse each category using the filters on Eduscope.
The highest-ranked schools in Sefton on Eduscope are St Thomas Church of England Primary School, Lydiate, St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School, Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary School. We rank each state school against schools of the same phase across England on its Ofsted inspection, results and attendance. Independent, special and nursery schools aren't ranked.
94% of inspected schools in Sefton hold a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating, which is below the England average of 94.8%. This includes 8 schools rated Outstanding and 69 rated Good.
Across primary schools in Sefton, 58% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths at Key Stage 2. This is based on the latest published results from the Department for Education.
The average pupil-teacher ratio across schools in Sefton is 18.0:1. While not a direct measure of class size, this indicates the level of teaching resource available per pupil. Across England it is 17.9:1.
The persistent absence rate across schools in Sefton is 20.7%. A pupil is classed as persistently absent if they miss 10% or more of school sessions. Across England it is 18.1%.
There are 39,948 pupils enrolled across schools in Sefton, with 21,870 in primary and 17,866 in secondary. 27.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
There are 10 independent schools in Sefton, all special schools for children with special educational needs, where councils usually pay the fees. You can compare them on Eduscope, including inspection reports where available.
Start by considering your child's age, your location, and whether you prefer a state or independent school. Use Eduscope to compare 174 schools in Sefton by Ofsted ratings, exam results, and distance. Filter by school type, gender, religious character, and admissions policy to narrow your options.
Sources: DfE school performance tables, DfE school census and workforce, DfE pupil absence, Ofsted. Photos are stand-ins.
