← GCSE results 2026 for England
Grade 5+ in English and maths, 2026
GCSE results 2026
St. Helens GCSE results 2026
Provisional 2025/26 results for 9 state secondary schools in St. Helens, 1,998 pupils. St. Helens ranks 126 of 151 councils for Attainment 8, which rose by 1.6 points on 2025.
Grade 5+ English & maths
41.9%
5.9 pts below England
Grade 7+ English & maths
9.4%
5.3 pts below England
Attainment 8
44.5
3.1 points below England
Council rank
126 / 151
By average Attainment 8
St. Helens at a glance
- Highest Attainment 8: Rainhill High School (50.3).
- Schools range from 33.9 to 50.3 on Attainment 8, a spread of 16.4 points, so the school you choose matters more than the council average.
- Disadvantaged pupils averaged 34.1, 15.3 points behind their classmates (a wider gap than England’s 13.8). They did best at Rainhill High School (40.9).
- Most improved on 2025: Rainhill High School, up 4.4 points to 50.3.
Every St. Helens secondary school, ranked
Ranked by Attainment 8 · 2025/26 provisional · E&M: English and maths
| # | School | Pupils | Attainment 8 | vs 2025 | Grade 4+ E&M | Grade 5+ E&M | Grade 7+ E&M | Disadvantaged A8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainhill High School | 280 | 50.3 | +4.4 | 73.9% | 51.4% | 13.9% | 40.9 |
| 2 | Rainford High School | 287 | 50.2 | −0.4 | 76.3% | 55.1% | 14.6% | 37.3 |
| 3 | The Sutton Academy | 259 | 45.5 | +2.4 | 66.8% | 45.6% | 9.7% | 38.9 |
| 4 | St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic AcademyRoman Catholic | 108 | 45.1 | +2.5 | 54.6% | 34.3% | 4.6% | 39.8 |
| 5 | Hope AcademyChurch of England/Roman Catholic | 243 | 43.9 | +0.1 | 56.0% | 39.5% | 9.5% | 31.9 |
| 6 | De La Salle SchoolRoman Catholic | 234 | 43.2 | — | 59.4% | 39.3% | 12.4% | 31.1 |
| 7 | Outwood Academy Haydock | 172 | 42.9 | +1.7 | 62.2% | 43.6% | 5.2% | 33.8 |
| 8 | Cowley International College | 242 | 40.3 | +1.0 | 54.5% | 33.1% | 4.1% | 31.6 |
| 9 | St Cuthbert's Catholic High SchoolRoman Catholic | 173 | 33.9 | −0.6 | 45.1% | 21.4% | 2.9% | 24.3 |
| England average | 47.6 | 66.8% | 47.8% | 14.7% | 37.7 |
Disadvantaged A8: Attainment 8 of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years or looked after; blank where the school has too few to publish. Small year groups move more from year to year.
St. Helens against the rest of the North West
- Trafford65.7%
- Stockport52.9%
- Warrington50.8%
- Bolton47.9%
- Manchester46.4%
- Cheshire East46.1%
- Wirral46.0%
- Lancashire45.0%
- Cheshire West and Chester44.4%
- Blackburn with Darwen44.4%
- Tameside44.3%
- Salford44.2%
- Wigan44.1%
- Westmorland and Furness42.8%
- St. Helens41.9%
- Oldham41.4%
- Rochdale41.2%
- Sefton40.2%
- Bury39.6%
- Liverpool39.1%
- Blackpool37.1%
- Halton36.5%
- Cumberland34.0%
- Knowsley26.2%
Reading these figures
- Attainment 8 is out of 90: a pupil’s grades in eight GCSE slots added up, with English and maths counted twice.
- There is no Progress 8 this year (these pupils sat no KS2 SATs), so results partly reflect each school’s intake.
- These are provisional figures; revised ones with re-marks follow in early 2027.
- Source: Department for Education, Key stage 4 performance (school-level data). Council figures are our pupil-weighted calculation over state-funded mainstream schools; independent schools are not included.