SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in St Helens, St. Helens

Rainford High School

Higher Lane, Rainford, St Helens, Merseyside, WA11 8NY

Sixth form Full
School website 01744885914

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 13 January 2026.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

50.6 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

56% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

78% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

48% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.03confidence interval -0.14 to 0.19

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C
Average points per entry
28.7

England average 32.3

A level students
96

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1646
Places
1650
How full
Nearly full — 1646 of 1650 places taken
Girls / boys
837 / 809
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
17%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
16%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
2%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
9%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
17%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
89%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
2%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
46%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
288

After sixth form

Went to university
34%

England 50%

In education, work or training
75%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
7%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
83

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

17% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
65%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
98

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for St. Helens 001E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
32%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
19%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
89%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
2%

England 17%

Households with no car
12%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
50%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
EVERYONE MATTERS SCHOOLS TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: Ian Young
Local authority
St. Helens
Ward
Rainford
Constituency
St Helens North
URN
144327

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Up Holland High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 48.8 3 mi
Cowley International CollegeCommunity school No grade 39.3 3.2 mi
Lathom High School : A Technology CollegeFoundation school Good 2022 41.5 3.7 mi
De La Salle SchoolAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 3.7 mi
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 38.1 3.8 mi
St Peter's Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2024 51.1 4.1 mi
Maharishi Free SchoolFree schools No grade 54.1 4.3 mi
All Saints Catholic High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2021 40.6 4.4 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
The Burgess Hill AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 44.6
Alderman Peel High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 45.4
The Thomas Adams SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 43.4
Millom SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 44.9
Oakwood SchoolCommunity school No grade 43
Dene Magna and Sixth FormAcademy converter No grade 52.6
Ridgewood SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 49.5
Bishop's Hatfield Girls' SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 51.9

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.