The Whitby High School

Foundation school·Secondary school Ellesmere Port, Cheshire West and Chester·CH66 2NU
Composite score
48.6
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#2,659
National rank
#353
In North West
#15
In Cheshire West and Chester
Top 84%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
38.9
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
31%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
54%
% EBacc grade 5+
16%
EBacc average points score
3.48

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes
Sixth form provision
Good

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
185 first choices, 196 places
First choices per place
0.94
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
368
any preference, for 196 places
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.02
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9420220.8720230.9420240.9220250.942026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put The Whitby High School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–18
Pupils on roll
1,477
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
28.2%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
7.7%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
9.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.2%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
12.5%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
35.9%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.5
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,241
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
92%
262 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
82%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
6%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

The Whitby High School at a glance

Located in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire West and Chester, The Whitby High School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a foundation school. The school educates roughly 1,477 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 38.9 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 0.5 points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

31% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 54% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made The Whitby High School their first choice was offered one of its 196 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 92% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 12.5%. There are about 15.5 pupils per teacher. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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