School tours/visits? Schools in Liverpool?

[MyJollyOtter]

Hello! We are moving from abroad to Liverpool, and struggling to sort out schools for our child. She is currently primary school age. In the US, visiting/touring a school before signing up for it is common-- is this the case in the UK as well? She is older than Reception age. It would be great to visit a school before selecting it, but understand if schools are chosen more via word of mouth, reviews, reputation, location, etc instead.
Additionally, if anyone has any rave reviews (or the opposite!) of schools in Liverpool (either city centre or South Liverpool), I would love to hear to them!
Thank you so much!!!!

Hey op a tour round possible schools is certainly reasonable in the uk too. I would contact specific schools when you have a clear idea.

How old is your dc? Be aware that you will have a limited choice of schools - basically those with space. If your dd is going into yrs R to 2 (aged roughly 4 to 7, depending on when her birthday is) then there is a class limit of 30. After yr 2 schools have more flexibility but still are not supposed to admit over PAN (published admission number)

No Liverpool intel from me sorry!

This is so helpful, thank you so much!! My daughter is 6 (will be turning 7 in June), which I believe means she will be starting in Year 3 in the Fall? This is super helpful to know about class limits, PAN, and space. Very much appreciated :) Also thanks for confirming a tour round schools is reasonable. We were really hoping to be able to check out possible schools.

Yeh that’s right, she will go into year 3 in September. Still tho it’s likely that the popular schools will be full. You need an address in the UK and then you can contact the local authority (council) and ask which schools on your list have spaces. You can then go an look at them – but be aware that the whole process is usually quite rapid – if a school has a space, they may ask you to confirm that you are taking it within a week or two.

If there is one you really want you can always go on its waiting list. If you want to appeal (which you may) then the class-size factor is key as it is almost impossible to win an appeal in year 2 or below.

When will you be moving?

Thank you so, so much for all this info! You're amazing. I've been trying to figure out what I can, struggling, and making a very chaotic spreadsheet to try to figure out school options. We are moving in June (right after the school year finishes here in the US). Heading out for a visit in the next several weeks, so the dream is to get housing sorted at that time, so that we can then get school sorted soon as well. I've been hoping to tour schools on our upcoming visit if it ends up being possible. This step by step of the process is extremely helpful, so thank you! Also great (and a little stressful? ha) to know that the process can be quite rapid.
Thank you again!

Many of the Catholic schools are quite good I believe. I'm jealous, I'd love to live in Liverpool!

Unfortunately you can't apply for a place for September until later in the summer, they don't hold spaces for more than a few weeks at most. So you can look on your upcoming visit, but not apply until you arrive in June. Plus availability might change in that time.

Liverpool College has a pretty good reputation, and takes children from age 5, I think.

You'll need to have an address before you can apply for a school. It will also narrow down your search area. There are several good schools in south and central Liverpool. If you are Catholic/baptised you'll have a larger selection of schools as many schools in Liverpool are faith schools and will require evidence of baptism. I believe you'll need to liaise with the council for a school place, they have a list of schools on their website although some church schools you might need to apply to directly. Some will allow you to look around, others won't. Ringing and checking is your best bet.

This is all so incredibly helpful!! Thank you all so much!! I beyond appreciate the info, and everyone taking the time to respond.

I had no idea we can't apply for a place for September until later in the summer; this is so important to know. I had noticed many of the schools seemed to be faith schools. Not baptised, so that might put her out of the running for a few schools unfortunately. I'll look into Liverpool College, and the Catholic schools to see if any would be possible.

Thank you all again so much!! I haven't actually been to Liverpool yet (although very excited to visit), and you have all been amazingly helpful and kind :)

@MyJollyOtter what people mean is that you cannot apply for a place until you live in Liverpool. Once you do, you can apply, and if it is June, and a school has a place, they will probably want you to start asap – schools in England break up mid-end July (around 20 July), so she may start in the summer term ie year 2.

If schools have broken up for summer then any place you take up won’t start till September anyway. So when people are saying “later in the summer” they mean “not when you visit to look in April” but rather when you actually move here.

Any particular reason you want south Liverpool or city centre? The city isn’t that big and if you widen your criteria for areas you’ll find really good schools in Sefton and the Wirral.

Hi op, I’m from Liverpool and live here though I’m more on the northern edge of the city.
my dc are not primary age but I know of many good schools in and around the city. Are you looking at state schools or private? Any idea where you want to live?

Liverpool is an amazing friendly city and there is so much to do; you will absolutely love it. Where
in the US are you coming from ie small town/big city etc? I’m sure you will be so welcomed here.

Liverpool has a completely ridiculous school allocations process for secondary schools. So what you’ll be fine for primary, you might find yourself really, really stick for secondary.

You’ve barely a hope in hell of getting into Liverpool college, it is possibly the most over subscribed school on the city.

If you want to go to any faith secondary school then you will need to be able prove that have TWO YEARS attendance at a weekly service. You’ll need to be in Liverpool and in church/mosque/synagogue for a full two years before you apply.

If you can’t prove that then you’re stuck with admissions for the following secondaries:

Bluecoat grammar, VERY hard to get in to, very academic, huge volume of social issues.

Kings Leadership academy. Awful.

Calderstones, very popular, oversubscribed, catchment getting smaller and smaller each year

Childwall, awful.

Belvedere, girls school, good rep, highly oversubscribed, most don’t get in

There are others but can’t remember off the top of my head.

The point is that primaries are great, loads of choice. Secondaries are a nightmare.

The nearest private secondary is Merchant Taylors in Crosby. Crumbling estate, very popular with drs and drug dealers.

@RoadToPlants thats a devastating put down of merchants 😂but probably accurate!

i agree with your assessment of Liverpool high schools however, it’s tue selection process that seem a bit mad and pressured. If I was moving with a family I would be looking at other areas to live although south Liverpool has many advantages it isn’t my cup of tea- hence the reason for asking what it is about that are that appeals.

Id also be wary of whether there are likely to be any sen issues- my dc have dyslexia and I’m not sure the catholic schools were the better option there with hindsight.

Beyond my assessment of secondary schools (which were a major factor in why we recently left Liverpool), then actually the local authority should be able to give you a list of all the primaries in Liverpool that have space for yr 3 entry. Then you can ring ahead and try and book in a tour for when you visit.

When we moved out of Liverpool, the LA where we were moving to did this, and they didn’t need an address. I just said we were moving to the area and they were fine with that. When we found a school we liked that had space, they held it for us for a few weeks until we got the address sorted.

Sudley, St Michaels (Non Faith despite name), Gilmore are all popular. There aren’t any bad primaries tbh. It’s secondaries that are awful. But if you can move very close to Calderstones and also find God then you’re in with a good chance of securing a half decent secondary school place.

Liverpool college has a waiting list as long as it’s arm for all years. I would discount it completely personally.

Love the description of MT’s, drug dealers, gangsters and footballers ! They’re also struggling allegedly hence the move to co-Ed. If you want independent look at St Mary’s

Everyone's kindness and sense of humor in this thread actually making me even more excited to move to Liverpool, despite the secondary school situation sounding like an absolute mess :) Thank you SO much to everyone!!

@clary Thank you so much for clarifying the June vs April application issue!! This puts a lot less pressure on this visit to get a school application into the council in April, since we should actually apply in June (hooray).

@Flossieskeeper and @Zoflorabore people keep recommending south Liverpool (Sefton Park/Lark Lane area) to us, so that's the main reason it's currently on the list. We've been in a pretty sleepy small town the past few years (with extremely limited options of things for kids to do), so city centre (Baltic Triangle area maybe? Is that a terrible choice?) sounded appealing in terms of very easy access to museums/central library, not having a car, etc. We also were curious about LIPA Primary/Secondary, which is how city centre also got on the list. I'm from Los Angeles originally, so I am very eager to get back to a city. We'll definitely look into the Wirral, Sefton, and the northern part of Liverpool! Thank you for these recommendations! I would love any neighborhood recommendations either one of you have :) Our upcoming trip is also to scope out neighborhoods. My spouse will be working at the University.

@RoadToPlants This is incredible intel on the secondary schools. Thank you!!! Especially for that beautifully succinct and brutal takedown of Merchant Taylors. Since Year 3 is not so far off from the end of Primary, I had been attempting to keep an eye on secondary school catchment areas as well, and so this is glorious intel (and wow, sounds like a mess). I am absolutely going to ask the LA for a list of primaries with space for year 3; that sounds like it would simplify my life immensely.

Thank you again so much!!!!

Are you after things for dc to do? I’d recommend Crosby /formby/maghull / Aintree areas in Sefton. Plenty of space and kids activities. Plus good transport links. I’m biased as I know that end really well.

i wouldn’t go for Baltic triangle as it’s very student orientated, sefton park and lark lane, likely to have been recommended by people with fond student memories of Liverpool. They are nice places to bring up children but you do have the secondary school issues.

wirral has lots of lovely places to live and good schools. No idea what la is like for accessibility apart from its far bigger than Liverpool, but all the areas mentioned are within a 30 minute or less train journey.

Google Sefton local authority and Wirral local authority. That should give you good info and links to all the schools.

You won't get into any of the church schools (which most are) withiut two years of evidence of attending church

Most are single sex too so thats a consideration

Personally id avoid north liverpool like the plauge. Sefton park amazing. Belvedere fab school there and no criteria to get a place. Luck of draw. Girls school.
Id stay central or south liverpool or you will end up moving. Lipa good. Id personally aboid st margarets and archbishop blanch. St hildas amazing but you need church. Prob best comprehensive in south liverpool is st nicholas. No criteria to get in apart from area.

If you want to be in an area with things going on. Central, l8,l19, l17, l18, some parts of l25. Possibly crosby but scruffy.

I think the wirral is probably a better place to
move to. Allerton and Woolton are quite nice too. As others have said the church schools you need to show you’ve been to church for a few years to stand a chance,

@Flossieskeeper thank you so much for these neighborhood recs! We will absolutely check out Crosby/Formby/Maghull/Aintree. Yes, definitely after things for dc to do, so these areas sound perfect. Good transport links is huge (really, we're all just so excited to be rid of having a car), so that is fantastic. Secondary school issues sounds like a reason to cross Lark Lane off the list, and this is great to know about Baltic Triangle since we had been concerned about that exact thing. Thank you so much!!

@Redlarge Thanks so much for the info! Definitely sounds like we'll be needing to cross the church schools off the list

If you move to wirral but want stuff to do you will find lots of time and expense travelling to Liverpool constantly.