Secondary
The Sutton Academy
Elton Head Road, St Helens, WA9 5AU
Key facts
- Phase
- Secondary
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Intake
- Mixed
- Pupils
- 1441 of 1550 places
- Pupils per teacher
- 15.2
- Local authority
- St. Helens
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Trust
- THE CHALLENGE ACADEMY TRUST
Staffing23/24
- Teachers (FTE)
- 95.9
- All staff (FTE)
- 123.8
- Pupils per adult
- 11.8
- Pupils
- 1,457
Staff are counted as full-time equivalents in the November school workforce census, so the pupil figure here is that census’s own and will differ a little from the roll above, which is counted in January.
Ofsted
Last inspected June 2022
Good
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Leadership and governanceGood
- Personal developmentGood
- Quality of educationGood
- Sixth formGood
Inspected under the previous framework, which used its own four-point scale. Ofsted now publishes a report card grading several areas separately, so these grades are not directly comparable with a recent inspection’s.
SafeguardingMet
Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)Earlier inspections1
May 2019
Previous framework
Requires improvement
- Leadership and governanceRequires improvement
GCSE results
39%
2 points above the St Helens average (37% across 7 schools)
43.1
0.7 below the St Helens average (43.8 across 7 schools)
2nd of 7 by our score, among the secondary schools in St Helens we can score - 13 in total, the rest without enough published data. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
All published measures2024/2025
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 43.1 |
| EBacc average point score | 3.74 |
| Entered the EBacc | 35% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% |
| A level average points per entry | 23.33 |
| A level students | 19 |
From the Department for Education. Measures are published per year and suppressed where a cohort is too small, so some schools show fewer. There are no results for 2019/20 or 2020/21, when exams and assessments were cancelled.
Results over time4 years
Each measure on its own scale, over every year we hold.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 48% |
| 22/23 | 39% |
| 23/24 | 40% |
| 24/25 | 39% |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 27.8 |
| 22/23 | 29.8 |
| 23/24 | 25.3 |
| 24/25 | 23.3 |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | +0.31 |
| 22/23 | -0.08 |
| 23/24 | -0.06 |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 48.4 |
| 22/23 | 43.1 |
| 23/24 | 43.1 |
| 24/25 | 43.1 |
Elton Head Road, St Helens, WA9 5AU
Admissions
How to apply (opens in a new tab)
You apply through your council, not the school - even for academies and free schools. Applications close on 31 October, the year before starting.
St. Helens admissions (opens in a new tab)
The council publishes the oversubscription criteria and last year’s offer distances, which is the closest thing to knowing your chances.
If you are refused a place (opens in a new tab)
You can appeal, and you can join a waiting list at the same time. Accept whatever offer you get first - declining it can leave you with no place at all.
This school’s own admissions (opens in a new tab)
Schools that set their own criteria - faith schools, grammars, academies - publish them on their own site.
Contact
- Principal
- Lynsey Gobin
- Address
- Elton Head Road, St Helens, WA9 5AU
- Telephone
- 01744678859