Liverpool, Merseyside · Liverpool
The Blue Coat School
Liverpool's only state-selective secondary school — despite the historic charity-school name and a retained chapel, it carries no religious character at all and applies zero faith-based admissions criteria.
Founded in 1708 as a charity school, Blue Coat is Liverpool's sole state-selective secondary, running its own bespoke two-phase CEM test entirely independently — there's no shared county or borough test, and Liverpool City Council's role is purely administrative, issuing the offer letter on the Trust Board's behalf. Around 400 of the highest Phase 1 scorers proceed to Phase 2, from which 180 places are offered by strict rank order, making this a genuinely superselective school by mechanism even though the school never uses the term itself. Despite the historic 'Blue Coat' naming convention and a retained chapel and chaplain post, GIAS and the school's own admissions policy both confirm no religious character and no faith-based criteria anywhere in the process.
Key facts
- Gender
- co-ed
- Age range
- 11-18
- Region
- North West
- Local authority
- Liverpool
- Established
- 1708
- DfE URN
- 137916
- Website
- https://www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk
Admissions
- Admissions authority
- The school sets its own test and criteria
- Entrance test board
- CEM, stated directly in the school's own admissions policy.
- Test format
- Two-phase, entirely online test sat on the school's own premises. Phase 1 (all applicants, adaptive): reading, spelling, general mathematics, mental arithmetic, and developed ability. The roughly 400 highest scorers proceed to Phase 2: verbal ability, numerical ability, and non-verbal ability. A reserve test exists for Phase 2 only, granted solely by the Trust Board for extenuating circumstances.
- Qualifying / pass mark
- Not published — the school states directly that it does not release test information. Candidates need to 'achieve the eligible score,' but admission is by rank order of highest scorers up to the available places, not a fixed pass/fail mark.verify with school
The school explicitly states it does not release test score information — this is a structural feature of a rank-order admissions system, not a research gap.
- Superselective?
- Yes
Liverpool has no shared county-wide qualifying score for this to be set above, since Blue Coat is the city's only state-selective secondary and runs its own bespoke rank-order test. By the more common general definition — a very low admission ratio well below what's typical of many grammar schools — it functions as highly selective in practice: only around 400 of Phase 1's entrants proceed to Phase 2, from which just 180 places are offered. Secondary sources suggest roughly 1,000 total applicants for those 180 places (around 15-18% overall admission rate), though this specific figure wasn't confirmed by the school itself.
Catchment & priority criteria
None. Confirmed both by the absence of any geographic criteria in the school's own admissions policy and explicitly on Liverpool City Council's own school-finder page, which states catchment is 'not applicable due to Blue Coat's Grammar school status.'
- Sit the entrance test and achieve the eligible score — a rank-order system, not a fixed pass/fail threshold shared with other schools
- Looked-after and previously looked-after children, and candidates with an EHC Plan, among those who reach the eligible score
- Up to 27 places (of 180 total) reserved for the highest-scoring eligible candidates eligible for Free School Meals, framed by the school as part of its commitment to social mobility
- All remaining places awarded to the highest-scoring other eligible candidates, in rank order
- Tie-break: age-weighted, non-rounded total test score. No faith-based criteria apply at any stage.
Results
| Year | Attainment 8 | GCSE 5+ Eng & Maths | Progress 8 | A*–A | A*–B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 80.1 | 98.9% | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | — | — |
| A-level (172 students): average grade A- (45.19 points per entry, Liverpool LA average C+/32.24, England average C+/34.38). | |||||
| 2025 | 79.5 | 97.7% | Not calculated — no KS2 baseline data for this cohort nationally | verify with school | verify with school |
| A-level (177 students): average grade A- (47.26 points per entry, Liverpool LA average C+/34.12, England average B-/35.0), value-added progress score +0.18 ('Above average', confidence interval +0.09 to +0.27), retention 100.0% (Liverpool LA 93.3%, England 93.1%). EBacc entry 96.0% (England 40.5%). DfE's current service doesn't publish an A*-A/A*-B percentage breakdown for this school. | |||||
Ofsted
- Rating
- Good overall (this was a full graded inspection under the pre-September 2024 framework — no inspection has occurred since). Behaviour and attitudes was Outstanding; quality of education, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision were all Good. The previous inspection (2012) rated the school Outstanding — worth noting as a change, though not necessarily alarming.
- Date
- 8 November 2022
- Report
- Read the full report
Sources
- 1. DfE Get Information About Schools — URN, status, gender, LA — https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/137916
- 2. School's own Admissions Policy, Year 7 Entry September 2027 / Year 12 Entry September 2026 — https://www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=137&type=pdf
- 3. Ofsted report, inspected 8 November 2022 — https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50202678
- 4. Liverpool City Council — school-finder page for The Blue Coat School — https://liverpool.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions/school-search/secondary-schools/the-blue-coat-school/
- 5. School's own GCSE Examination Results 2024 infographic — https://www.bluecoatschoolliverpool.org.uk/_site/data/files/about/examinations/00B7F57FEC67110C33408A474BC49F6D.pdf
- 6. DfE Compare School Performance — A-level qualifications — https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137916/the-blue-coat-school/16-to-18/advanced-level-qualifications
Last updated 2026-09-01. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.