Ofsted: Expected standard or betterYou're hereLIPA Sixth Form College
L1 9DY · Free School · 398 pupils
- Pupils per teacher
- 17.0
LIPA Sixth Form College
- Ofsted: Expected standard or better · Apr 2026
- Ages 14 to 19
- Liverpool L1
- 398 pupils
In short: a growing sixth-form free school.
Good to know
- Education programmes for young people - achievement: Strong standard at Ofsted's inspection in April 2026.
Worth checking
- Nothing stands out in the data. Visit, and ask the questions further down this page.
- Last Ofsted visitApr 2026less than a year ago
- Free school meals13%
- Pupils398Room for 365, so it's full
Then and now
What Ofsted found in Apr 2026
Ofsted no longer gives one overall grade. It rates each area on a five-point scale, from urgent improvement to exceptional, and checks whether safeguarding is met. The scale is new, so it can't be read straight across from old grades such as Good or Outstanding.
Every Ofsted visit
Ofsted inspects colleges and 16 to 19 schools under its further education framework. Choose a year to see what they found.
Rated Inadequate at its last graded inspection, in 2025.
What Ofsted found in February 2025
- Effective safeguarding. Arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
- Need for improvement. Requires improvements in staff relations and student support.
- SafeguardingEffective
- Quality of educationInadequate
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Personal developmentRequires improvement
- LeadershipInadequate
- Sixth formInadequate
A shorter visit in October 2025
Ofsted came back to check the school's progress since its last inspection. Monitoring visits don't give a new grade.
Read the 2025 report on OfstedA shorter visit in January 2026
Ofsted came back to check the school's progress since its last inspection. Monitoring visits don't give a new grade.
Read the 2026 report on OfstedWhat Ofsted found in April 2026
- SafeguardingMet
- InclusionExpected standard
- Leadership and governanceExpected standard
- Education programmes for young people - curriculum, teaching and trainingExpected standard
- Education programmes for young people - achievementStrong standard
- Education programmes for young people - participation and developmentExpected standard
Earlier visits
- 26 Feb 2019OutstandingReport
The report card scale, in plain English
- Exceptional
- The very best practice, given rarely.
- Strong standard
- Better than Ofsted expects.
- Expected standard
- What Ofsted expects of every setting.
- Needs attention
- Some things must get better.
- Urgent improvement
- Serious problems to fix straight away.
After 16
Where pupils go next
Where pupils were 6 months after leaving: staying in education, in work or training, or not. No lasting destination means they didn't stay in education or work for those 6 months.
After sixth form
Pupils who left in 2024, against England.
- Staying in education67%England 59%
- Apprenticeships1%England 5%
- In employment20%England 21%
- No lasting destination10%England 10%
- Destination unknown2%England 5%
Day to day
Life at LIPA Sixth Form College
0.2% of pupils were suspended at least once in 2024/25
1 suspension in all, 0.2 for every 100 pupils. Across England, similar schools: 7.3%. No permanent exclusions.
Before and after schoolWe don't hold club times. Ask the school.
Pupils
Who goes to LIPA Sixth Form College
A growing school: 356 pupils in 2018, 398 now.
68% girls32% boys
Ethnic background
85% White British · 6% White Other · 3% Mixed Other · 1% White & Asian · 5% in smaller groups
- 13.1%
Free school meals
Children from lower-income families. The school gets extra money to support them.
- 0.3%
English as an additional language
Children who speak another language at home. It says nothing about how well they speak English.
- 17.1%
Special educational needs
Children with special educational needs, with or without an EHC plan.
Main needs recorded (pupils)
- Specific learning difficulty29
- Social, emotional and mental health17
- Autism13
- 3.3%
EHC plan
Children with a legal plan for more complex needs (an Education, Health and Care plan).
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 398 | 402 | 386 | 371 | 370 | 363 | – | 354 | 356 |
Each year is the school year ending that summer, so 2025 means 2024-25. Days missed is the share of school sessions missed for any reason. Often absent is the share of pupils missing at least 1 day in 10.
Source: DfE, school census and pupil absence.
We don't hold pupil numbers for 2020.
Open evening
What to ask when you visit
Based on what the data says about LIPA Sixth Form College. Take this list with you.
- 1“How do you support children who need extra help?”17.1% of pupils have special educational needs here.
Nearby
See all Liverpool secondariesOther secondary schools nearby
Popular schools fill up, so it's wise to list more than one. Here's how LIPA Sixth Form College compares with its neighbours.
Ofsted: Expected standard or betterYou're here
Ofsted: OutstandingUniversity of Liverpool Mathematics School
L69 7SH · Sixth Form · Ages 16–19
- AAB+
- 54%
- To Uni
- 86%
- Pupils per teacher
- 11.9
Ofsted: OutstandingOfsted: GoodKeep an eye on LIPA Sixth Form College
We'll email you when there's a new Ofsted report, new results or new admissions figures. Nothing else.
Staff and money
Teachers, and what the school spends
1 teacher for every 17 pupils
Pupils per teacher across the whole school, not class size. Counting teaching assistants and other support staff, there's 1 adult for every 13 pupils.
Average class: 16 pupils.
22.1teachers (full-time equivalent)
7teaching assistants
91%of teachers fully qualified
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils per teacher | 17 | 18.3 | 18.3 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 17.2 | 17.6 | 16.3 | 18.6 | 17.5 |
| Teachers (full-time) | 22.1 | 21.9 | 21 | 19.7 | 20.6 | 21.1 | 20.5 | 21.7 | 19.1 | 10.5 |
| Teaching assistants | 7 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.6 |
| Qualified teachers | 91% | 82% | 87% | 79% | 42% | 43% | 35% | 35% | 34% | 55% |
Each year is the November staff count of that school year, so 2025 means 2024-25. Pupils per teacher covers the whole school, not class size. Full-time counts two half-time teachers as one. Qualified means holding qualified teacher status.
Source: DfE, School workforce in England.
£6,694 spent on each pupil a year
2024 to 2025. Up from £5,973 in 2017.
- Staff (teachers, assistants and others)£5,22178%
- Buildings and grounds£1973%
- Everything else: books, IT, food, supplies£1,27619%
- Money in
- £7,898
- Spent
- £6,694
These are the school's own accounts, not the whole of The Lipa Multi Academy Trust. They leave out what the trust spends centrally, so compare with other schools with care. In 2024-25 it took in £484,000 more than it spent (£1,204 per pupil). Money left over goes into its reserves.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spending | £6,694 | £6,852 | £6,358 | £5,576 | £5,413 | £5,108 | £4,842 | £4,980 | £5,973 |
| Income | £7,898 | £7,065 | £6,466 | £5,627 | £5,901 | £5,537 | £5,076 | £5,781 | £6,755 |
| Staff costs | £5,221 | £4,977 | £4,345 | £3,949 | £4,146 | £3,737 | £3,463 | £2,992 | £3,429 |
| Buildings and grounds | £197 | £474 | £523 | £68 | £193 | £139 | £147 | £247 | £375 |
| Reserves | – | – | – | – | £2,088 | £1,609 | £1,212 | £972 | £315 |
Each year is the financial year ending in that year. Per pupil means the year's total divided by the number of pupils. These are day-to-day figures: big building projects aren't counted.
Blank reserves mean DfE's file shows nothing for the school that year. Trusts don't always report reserves school by school.
Source: DfE, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
The basics
School details
- Ages
- 14 to 19
- Type
- Free School
- Academy trust
- The Lipa Multi Academy Trust
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Size
- 398 pupils, 365 places
- Director
- Mr Edward Pinner
- Opened
- September 2016
- Council
- Liverpool
- Address
- 41 Upper Duke Street, Liverpool, L1 9DY
- Phone
- 0151 330 3232
- Website
- www.lipasixthformcollege.org
- School number (URN)
- 142891 · See it on the government register
Questions
Questions parents ask
Is LIPA Sixth Form College a good school?
Ofsted's April 2026 report card gives no overall grade. Strong standard: Education programmes for young people - achievement. Expected standard: Inclusion, Leadership and governance, Education programmes for young people - curriculum, teaching and training, Education programmes for young people - participation and development. Safeguarding met the required standard. Visit, and read the latest inspection report.
What is LIPA Sixth Form College's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted's April 2026 report card gives no overall grade. Strong standard: Education programmes for young people - achievement. Expected standard: Inclusion, Leadership and governance, Education programmes for young people - curriculum, teaching and training, Education programmes for young people - participation and development. Safeguarding met the required standard. Report cards grade each area from Urgent improvement, Needs attention and Expected standard up to Strong standard and Exceptional. The full report on Ofsted's website explains what it does well and what it needs to improve.
Is it a faith school?
No, it doesn't have a religious character.
Sources: Department for Education school performance tables, school census and workforce, academy accounts, admissions statistics, Ofsted and ISI. Photos are stand-ins. School details and inspections checked against official records on 5 November 2026.