Tarleton Academy

About Tarleton Academy

Tarleton Academy is a mixed, non-denominational secondary school in West Lancashire that currently educates 675 pupils against a capacity of 750, meaning it has room to grow but is already a popular choice locally. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 17.5%, which is slightly above the national average for secondary schools and reflects a genuinely mixed catchment. Demand is strong: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 317 applications for 131 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.42 to one. Of those, 117 were first-preference applications, and exactly 117 first-preference offers were made, suggesting that nearly every family who put Tarleton first got a place, but competition for those initial slots is fierce. The school does not have a sixth form, so pupils leave at 16, and its religious character is listed as none, making it a straightforward community option for families across the borough.

Academically, Tarleton Academy performs well above the local average. Its Progress 8 score of 0.28 is rated as 'Above average' nationally and compares very favourably with the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11. In the West Lancashire district, it ranks third out of eight schools on this measure, and within the wider North West region it sits in the top 20% of 445 schools. The Attainment 8 score is 47.4, and 72.2% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, with 42.9% reaching the higher grade 5 benchmark. The EBacc average point score is 4.11, though only 25.6% of pupils entered the full EBacc suite, and 16.5% achieved it at grade 4 or above. In its most recent graded inspection in 2014, the school was rated Good overall, and an ungraded inspection in 2023 confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management judged Outstanding.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including an astro turf, playing fields, music rooms, an ICT suite, and a library, though there is no sixth form centre in use given the age range stops at 16. Sports provision is broad, with options from rugby and netball to rowing and martial arts, and clubs include coding, debate, orchestra, and Young Enterprise. SEND support is comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder, as well as social, emotional and mental health support. For families seeking a well-subscribed, non-faith secondary with strong academic progress and a wide extracurricular offer, Tarleton Academy is a pragmatic choice, particularly for those who value a school that consistently outperforms its local authority benchmarks without being overly selective.

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