Lord Derby Academy

About Lord Derby Academy

Lord Derby Academy, a mixed secondary school in Knowsley for pupils aged 11 to 16, has turned a corner. Its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 awarded it a Good rating across the board, including for overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in 2019, when the school was rated Requires Improvement. The most telling academic metric is the school’s Progress 8 score of -0.59, which is classified as 'Well below average' nationally. However, context matters: the local authority average for Knowsley is -0.86, meaning Lord Derby Academy is actually performing better than the typical school in its borough. It ranks third out of six secondary schools in Knowsley on this measure, placing it in the top half locally, and sits in the bottom 50% nationally at the 86th percentile.

Looking at the exam results from the 2023/24 academic year, the school’s Attainment 8 score sits at 38.7, and 48.4% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths (the basics measure). The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) entry rate is high at 74.6%, though only 25.4% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in the EBacc subjects, and just 9.9% achieved a grade 5 or above. The EBacc average point score is 3.58. Breaking down the Progress 8 components, the school’s strongest area is the EBacc bucket (-0.55), while English (-0.66) and maths (-0.57) are weaker. The open element, which includes other GCSE subjects, is -0.6. These figures suggest the school is making a concerted push on the EBacc curriculum, but outcomes in core subjects still lag behind national averages, even if they are ahead of the Knowsley average.

The school is oversubscribed: for the 2025/26 academic year, it received 448 applications for 211 places, with 256 first-preference applications and 199 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.12. Facilities include science labs, a gymnasium, sports hall, art studios, music rooms, an ICT suite, a sixth form centre, and a chapel. There is a wide range of sports on offer, from rugby and netball to swimming and gymnastics, plus clubs including Debate, Choir, Coding, Young Enterprise, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The school has a strong SEND provision, supporting pupils with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 53.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, this is a school serving a high-deprivation community, and it is likely to suit families who value a broad curriculum with strong pastoral support and a clear focus on improvement.

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