School profile
Cowley International College
Hard Lane, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 6PN
Overview
Cowley International College is a state-funded school (community school) in St Helens, North West, for pupils aged 11–18. This summary is generated only from official structured fields.
School details
- Official establishment type
- Community school
- Establishment group
- Local authority maintained schools
- Phase of education
- Secondary
- Age range
- Ages 11–18
- Gender of entry
- Mixed
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Sixth form
- Yes
- School capacity
- 1,620
- Pupils on roll
- 1,514
- URN
- 104829
Admissions
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Local authority
- St. Helens
Contact the school or your local authority for catchment and application deadlines.
School places
DfE school capacity survey · May 2025 (2024/25)
- Capacity at survey date
- 1,610
- Pupils on roll
- 1,482
- Unfilled places at survey date
- 128
A dated snapshot from the Department for Education school capacity survey, separate from the school details above. Unfilled places at the survey date do not mean places are currently available for admission. About this data
Official admissions data
Applications & demand
Preferences expressed by families through coordinated admissions, shown over time.
2026/27 admissions · Year 7
- First preferences
- 213
- Total preferences
- 481
- Offers made
- 243
Times the school was named as a family's first preference.
All recorded preference positions for this school.
Offers recorded through coordinated admissions, not physical capacity.
First preferences compared with offers
0.88 first preferences per offer
213 first preferences and 243 offers were recorded for 2026/27.
What does this mean?
This is the Department for Education's own published comparison of first preferences with total offers recorded. It indicates the level of requests made through coordinated admissions. Offers are not necessarily the school's maximum capacity, admissions arrangements vary between local authorities, the figure is not a measure of school quality, and it should not be used on its own to judge the likelihood of gaining a place.
First preferences over time
Latest five available admissions years. Missing years are not estimated.
Admissions history
| Admissions year | First preferences | Total preferences | Offers made |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | 213 | 481 | 243 |
| 2025/26 | 236 | 559 | 242 |
| 2024/25 | 244 | 546 | 244 |
| 2023/24 | 250 | 552 | 277 |
| 2022/23 | 267 | 509 | 243 |
Source: Department for Education · Applications and offers data.
Official performance data
School performance
Official Department for Education results for this school. Results are shown for the academic year they relate to.
2024/25 results
Attainment 8 score
- School
- 39.3
- England
- 47.1
Pupils included: 240
Grade 5 or above in English & maths
- School
- 30.4%
- England
- 46.5%
Pupils included: 240
Grade 4 or above in English & maths
- School
- 48.3%
- England
- 66.4%
Pupils included: 240
Entering the EBacc
- School
- 53.3%
- England
- 41.5%
Pupils included: 240
Progress 8 was not published for 2024/25.
Source: Department for Education · School performance data.
Official inspection data
Ofsted inspections
Inspection information published by Ofsted, shown in Ofsted's own words.
Ofsted report card
Inspected 10 March 2026 · Published 30 April 2026
Renewed education inspection framework
- Safeguarding standards
- Met
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Early years (where applicable)
- Not applicable
- Post-16 provision (where applicable)
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
Other recent inspection activity
These visits do not carry a graded judgement and do not replace the inspection above.
Ungraded inspection
Inspected 24 November 2021 · Published 17 January 2022
Outcome: School remains Good
Ofsted changed how it inspects and reports on schools in November 2025. Judgements from the previous and current frameworks use different systems and should not be directly compared.
School Nest shows the inspection information Ofsted currently publishes for this school. It is not a complete record of every inspection the school has ever had.
Source: Ofsted · Inspections and outcomes. Official Ofsted page for this school
Location
- Address
- Hard Lane, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 6PN
- Local authority
- St. Helens
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