St John Plessington Catholic College

Academy converter·Secondary school Wirral·CH63 7LF
Composite score
46.5
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#2,841
National rank
#376
In North West
#17
In Wirral
Top 89%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
37.2
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
28%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
50%
% EBacc grade 5+
9%
EBacc average points score
3.11

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Requires improvement
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%
195 first choices, 207 places
First choices per place
0.94
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
460
any preference, for 207 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.01
00.511.5
1 per place
0.9520220.8020230.7920240.9520250.942026

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

Every child who put St John Plessington Catholic College 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
1,544
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
39.6%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
12.0%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
14.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
3.7%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
11.9%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
32.4%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.2
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,353
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%
261 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
82%
Apprenticeship
6%
Employment
4%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About St John Plessington Catholic College

St John Plessington Catholic College is a secondary school in Wirral, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Roman Catholic religious character. Around 1,544 pupils aged 11 to 18 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 37.2 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 1.5 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

28% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 50% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made St John Plessington Catholic College their first choice was offered one of its 207 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 11.9%. There are about 15.2 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 40% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. 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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