Hope Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Newton-le-Willows, St. Helens·WA12 0AQ
Composite score
54.8
Compare Hope Academy with another school
#1,940
National rank
#240
In North West
#3
In St. Helens
Top 61%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
43.8
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
32%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
57%
% EBacc grade 5+
13%
EBacc average points score
3.71

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Quality of education
Requires improvement
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
168 first choices, 184 places
First choices per place
0.91
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
289
any preference, for 184 places
Applications from another council area
19%
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.08
00.511.5
1 per place
1.0520220.9420230.9820240.9920250.912026

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

Every child who put Hope Academy 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
11–16
Pupils on roll
1,288
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England/Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
28.8%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
5.0%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
18.9%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.6%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.3%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
27.6%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
16.2
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£7,548
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
87%
239 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
80%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Hope Academy

Hope Academy is a secondary school in Newton-le-Willows, St. Helens, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Church of England/Roman Catholic religious character. Around 1,288 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 43.8 — broadly in line with the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 1.1 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.

32% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 57% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Hope Academy their first choice was offered one of its 184 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 87% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.3%. There are about 16.2 pupils per teacher. Hope Academy does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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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