Special school in Prenton, Wirral
The Observatory School
Bidston Village Road, Bidston, Prenton, Merseyside, CH43 7QT
Ofsted
Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 14 January 2025.
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.
Exam results
Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 174
- Places
- 160
- How full
- Full — 174 pupils against 160 places
- Girls / boys
- 33 / 141
- Overall absence
- 30%
- Persistently absent
- 69%
England 5.8%
England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 74%
- English as an additional language
- 1%
- With an EHC plan
- 98%
- On SEN support
- 2%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
- In education, work or training
- 50%
- Stayed in education
- 45%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 5%
- Stayed at this school's sixth form
- 0%
- No sustained destination
- 35%
- Pupils in the cohort
- 20
England 91.4%
England 85.4%
England 3.5%
England 5.8%
A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Wirral 011A, 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
- 27%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 22%
- Households owning their home
- 51%
- Households in social housing
- 36%
- Households with no car
- 25%
- Adults economically inactive
- 45%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Community special school
- Phase
- Special
- Ages
- Ages 7–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Headteacher
- Acting Headteacher: Gregory Chiswell
- Local authority
- Wirral
- Ward
- Bidston and St James
- Constituency
- Birkenhead
- URN
- 127715
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest special schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wirral WrapOther independent special school | No grade | — | 0.7 mi |
| Clare Mount Specialist Sports CollegeCommunity special school | No grade | — | 0.8 mi |
| Hayfield SchoolCommunity special school | Good 2023 | — | 1.1 mi |
| Kilgarth SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 1.5 mi |
| Edstart Schools WirralOther independent special school | No grade | — | 1.8 mi |
| Gilbrook SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 1.9 mi |
| Meadowside SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 2.1 mi |
| Foxfield SchoolCommunity special school | Good 2023 | — | 2.2 mi |
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.