Calderstones School

About Calderstones School

Calderstones School is a large, mixed secondary in Liverpool that is clearly in high demand. With 1,575 pupils on roll against a capacity of 1,543, it is technically slightly over capacity, and the admission data for 2025/26 tells a story of significant oversubscription. The school received 1,351 total applications for 248 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 5.45 to one. Of those, 406 families put Calderstones as their first preference, and 205 first-preference offers were made. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 21.6%, which is notably above the national average for secondary schools and reflects the school’s role in serving a diverse local community. This is a school that families are actively choosing, despite its size and the competitive admissions picture, suggesting a strong local reputation that goes beyond raw academic metrics.

Academically, Calderstones presents a mixed but improving picture. Its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 awarded a Good rating across all five categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. This is a clear upgrade from the school’s previous inspection in 2019, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. At Key Stage 4, the school’s Progress 8 score is -0.2, which is below the national average but notably above the Liverpool local authority average of -0.4. The Attainment 8 score sits at 43.5, and 59.4% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is high at 68.9%, though only 32.7% of pupils achieved the EBacc at grade 4 or above. In the sixth form, the school’s value-added score is -0.01, classed as average, with a typical A-level grade of C and 30 points per entry.

The school offers a broad range of facilities, including a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, tennis courts, playing fields, and a dedicated sixth-form centre. Sports provision is extensive, with football, netball, cricket, rugby, dance, martial arts, and hockey among the options, while clubs range from gardening and chess to Model UN and Young Enterprise. Calderstones also has a comprehensive SEND offer, with provisions covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering this school, the key takeaway is that it is a large, popular, and improving comprehensive with strong demand, decent facilities, and a sixth form that performs around the national average. It is not the highest-performing school in Liverpool academically, but its Good Ofsted rating, above-average Progress 8 relative to the local authority, and wide range of extracurricular and SEND support make it a solid option for a broad cross-section of students.

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