Across the North West, selective grammar schools aren’t the only ones boasting excellent performances in the most recent GCSE season.
Preliminary performance data for state-funded secondary schools for the most recent 2024/25 school year has just been released - meaning England’s highest achieving schools of 2024/25 can now be named. This year, the default metric schools are sorted by is their Attainment 8 score - a purely performance-based figure derived from learners’ results in up to eight GCSEs. It is temporarily standing in for the usual Progress 8 scores, which weren’t able to be calculated due to disruptions this cohort of learners faced during the pandemic.
To help parents make sense of the new numbers, we’ve created a league table of the highest achieving state secondary schools across all of the North West’s major council areas, spanning from Cumbria to Cheshire, Liverpool to Greater Manchester. Attainment 8 scores can go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, and we’ve limited our list to schools with an average score of 60 and up - similar to a 6 - or close to it.
Naturally, this metric change means that many of the region’s prestigious grammar schools dominate the list. But for the comprehensive schools which do rank amongst them, it makes their achievement all the more laudable.
Pupils’ grades also aren’t the only measure of what makes a school a great place to learn. That’s why we’ve also made sure each one we included had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are set to change from next month, but for now, all schools must have earned either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since. This means that quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded official standards.
Here were the North West’s top 25 of the most recent school year:
1. Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
One of the highest-achieving schools in the country, this is a selective girls’ secondary academy in Altrincham, in Greater Manchester’s Trafford borough. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 80.4 – compared to a local average of 57.8 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
2. The Blue Coat School, Liverpool
Next up is The Blue Coat School , a selective secondary academy in Liverpool, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 79.4 – compared to a local average of 42 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Like its counterpart, this is a selective secondary academy for boys in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. It was most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 78.3 – compared to a local average of 57.8 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Saint Ambrose College
Saint Ambrose College is a selective Catholic boys’ secondary academy in Hale Barns, near Altrincham in Greater Manchester. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 76.1 – compared to a local average of 57.8 and a national average of 45.9. | Google