St Mary's Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy

About St Mary's Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy

St Mary's Catholic College in Wallasey is a school that parents clearly want to get into, even as it works through a period of challenge. For the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school received 403 applications for 207 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.95. That means nearly two families applied for every spot, and all 197 first-preference applicants were offered a place. This level of demand suggests the school retains strong local appeal, particularly among Catholic families in Wirral. However, the most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2023 rated the school Requires Improvement overall, a repeat of its 2019 grade. There are some green shoots: inspectors rated both Behaviour and Attitudes and Personal Development as Good, which points to a positive day-to-day atmosphere for pupils. The leadership and management, along with the quality of education, were both judged to require improvement, and the sixth-form provision also dropped from Good to Requires Improvement compared with the previous inspection.

Academically, the data paints a difficult picture. At Key Stage 4, the school’s Progress 8 score is -0.99, which is well below the Wirral local authority average of -0.12 and places St Mary’s 19th out of 20 secondary schools in the borough. Pupils are achieving nearly a grade less per subject than their peers nationally. The Attainment 8 score sits at 29.3, and only 30.7% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths. The EBacc entry rate is 31.4%, but just 6.5% of pupils entered the full EBacc. At A-level, the picture is similarly constrained: the school’s value-added score is -0.44, and the average points per entry is 25.11, equivalent to a C- grade. With only 22 pupils in the sixth-form cohort, it is a small setting, and the best three A-levels averaged a D+ grade.

The school is well-resourced in terms of facilities, with a theatre, chapel, sixth-form centre, astro turf, and science labs, plus a broad range of sports from rowing to badminton. Clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Model UN, and Young Enterprise. SEND provision is extensive, covering autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support, alongside a resourced provision. With 46.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a significantly disadvantaged community. St Mary’s is likely to suit families who value its Catholic character and inclusive ethos, and who are prepared to support the school through its current improvement journey. The high oversubscription suggests that for many local families, the school’s community feel outweighs its current academic ranking.

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