King’s Leadership Academy, Liverpool Review 2026: A character-first secondary with a growing roll in Dingle

A handshake at the door is a small detail, but it signals a school that puts manners, confidence and routines at the centre of daily life. King’s Leadership Academy, Liverpool sits in Dingle and serves a diverse community, including a higher-than-average number of students who join part-way through secondary. That mobility shapes how the school works, there is a strong emphasis on calm classrooms, consistent behaviour expectations, and a curriculum designed to be accessible for students arriving with different prior experiences.

Leadership sits within The Great Schools Trust, which the school joined in November 2015. The current principal is Scott Cordon, who was appointed as acting principal in June 2023.

On outcomes, the picture is mixed. FindMySchool’s GCSE ranking places the school below England average overall for GCSE outcomes, and the current Progress 8 figure is negative, indicating that GCSE progress is below the national benchmark for similar starting points. For families, the key question is fit: this is a school with clear structure and ambition, where strong routines and personal development sit alongside a need for continued improvement in assessment consistency and careers guidance.

Purposeful routines are a defining feature. Students are expected to be polite, composed and ready to learn, and the school reinforces these habits through consistent systems and adult presence. Relationships between staff and students are described as warm and respectful, and the tone is more formal than many local comprehensives.

A distinctive thread is the school’s long-running emphasis on character alongside academics. Earlier inspection evidence described an aspirational mission focused on character development, with a house system used to create belonging and motivation. While schools evolve over time, that combination of structure, shared routines and a clear sense of identity still frames how King’s Leadership positions itself.

The context matters. Both historic and more recent official reporting highlight a community with significant mobility, including students arriving from other countries and joining the school at non-standard points. That reality often produces a more explicit focus on literacy, classroom order and induction processes than in schools with stable cohorts.

For GCSE outcomes, FindMySchool’s ranking (based on official data) places King’s Leadership Academy, Liverpool at 3,541st in England and 37th in Liverpool for GCSE outcomes. This sits below England average overall, within the lower-performing group of schools nationally.

The most important “what this means” indicator for many families is progress. The school’s Progress 8 score is -0.54, which indicates students, on average, make less progress than similar students nationally across eight GCSE subjects.

Subject-breadth indicators suggest a curriculum intended to keep doors open, but current attainment signals there is work to do. The school’s EBacc average point score is 3.08, compared with an England comparator of 4.08.

A vital contextual note from the most recent inspection is that the school’s cohort has expanded substantially and includes many students who did not start in Year 7, particularly in Key Stage 4. That can make headline outcomes harder to interpret year-on-year, and places extra weight on strong assessment and targeted catch-up.

Curriculum design is a stated strength. The most recent inspection describes a broad and challenging curriculum, with a clear focus on mapping the essential knowledge students should retain, and on choosing content that connects with students’ backgrounds and local context. This matters in a school with higher mobility: clarity on “what comes next” helps students integrate more quickly.

Reading is treated as a whole-school priority rather than an add-on. The school dedicates curriculum time to improving reading skills and provides targeted support so students who struggle with reading can catch up faster and access the full curriculum.

The improvement area is consistency in assessment use. In some subjects, teachers do not use the school’s assessment approaches reliably to identify gaps and reshape learning, which can result in classes moving on before all students are secure. For families, the practical implication is that support and outcomes may vary more by subject than you would want in a tightly consistent system.

Where Students Go Next

The school has a sixth form, and it also works hard to broaden horizons beyond the immediate local context. A notable historic example is the King’s Scholar Programme, described as supporting some Year 11 pupils to secure scholarships for sixth-form study at independent boarding schools, with five pupils securing places in the reported year. That kind of pathway is highly dependent on cohorts and opportunity, but it indicates a deliberate “social mobility” intent that is unusual in many non-selective settings.

Work experience opportunities for Year 10 have been developed, which is a practical step towards stronger employability and post-16 planning. The current priority, however, is ensuring consistently high-quality careers guidance and clear information about next steps, so that all students can make informed choices at 16 and 18.

Because published destination breakdowns can vary by year and are not always presented consistently, families considering sixth form should ask for recent A-level outcomes by subject, retention into Year 12, and typical progression routes (university, apprenticeships and employment) at open events.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Liverpool City Council as part of the normal coordinated admissions process for September entry. For September 2026 entry, applications opened on 01 September 2025 and the closing date was 31 October 2025. Liverpool’s published timetable states offers are released on 03 March 2026 for that cycle.

The school’s Published Admission Number (PAN) is 180. Liverpool’s published allocation information for the most recent intake shown on its school-search page indicates 210 pupils allocated, and notes that the school was undersubscribed on National Offer Day, so a distance cut-off did not apply for that intake.

For families planning ahead, the operational takeaway is straightforward: check the most current LA position and the school’s admissions policy each year, as demand can shift quickly, especially for schools with expanding cohorts or changing local demographics. Parents can also use FindMySchool’s Map Search to understand travel practicality from your home to the school, and to compare realistic journeys against alternative options nearby.

Support structures are described in practical, operational terms rather than slogans. The local authority’s SEND directory entry describes a pastoral model in which each year group has an Assistant Progress Leader who mentors and liaises with families. It also describes a degree-level counsellor available daily to students, plus access to a counselling psychologist via weekly appointments, with additional inclusion support workers supporting students with social, emotional and mental health needs through a personalised curriculum.

Provision for students with special educational needs is framed around early identification, Personal Provision Plans and regular review. The same entry describes screening and targeted literacy support, alongside links with external agencies where appropriate.

One safeguarding headline is clear and current. The September 2023 Ofsted inspection confirmed the school remains Good, and stated that safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Extracurricular activity is used deliberately as character education in action. The Combined Cadet Force is a prominent example, reinforcing teamwork, responsibility and self-discipline, and it is repeatedly referenced as part of the school’s wider experience offer.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is another structured pathway, encouraging students to build independence, volunteering habits and resilience over time. Outdoor pursuits and residential visits are also highlighted as vehicles for confidence and challenge, which can be particularly valuable for students who benefit from predictable routines in the classroom but need broader horizons beyond it.

Trips and wider cultural experiences have been referenced historically as including theatre visits and exposure to colleges, universities and careers events. The value here is not the trip itself, it is the cumulative effect of showing students what “next steps” can look like, especially in a school that serves a varied intake and welcomes students at different points in their secondary journey.

This is a large, near-capacity secondary in south Liverpool, so day-to-day practicality is about travel reliability and routines. Families should confirm the current school-day timings directly, as start and finish times can vary by year group and calendar pattern.

The local authority’s SEND directory entry indicates open days are typically held in September and October, with an open evening commonly running in June, alongside induction activity in June for new Year 7 intake.

• Academic progress measures are currently below benchmark. A Progress 8 score of -0.54 indicates students, on average, make less progress than similar students nationally, which is an important data point for families prioritising rapid academic acceleration.

• Subject consistency is still an improvement area. Assessment is not used consistently well in some subjects to address gaps before moving on, which can lead to uneven experience across the curriculum.

• Careers guidance needs sharper consistency. Work experience opportunities have expanded, but not all students receive sufficiently high-quality guidance and next-steps information, so families should ask detailed questions at open events about careers support at 16 and 18.

• Admissions demand can shift year to year. Liverpool’s published allocation data shows the school was undersubscribed on National Offer Day for the most recent intake displayed, which is useful context, but it does not guarantee the same pattern for future cohorts.

King’s Leadership Academy, Liverpool is a structured, character-driven secondary with a clear emphasis on routines, manners, and personal development, backed by a curriculum designed to be broad and coherent for a diverse intake. It suits families who value firm expectations, a more formal school culture, and organised wider experiences such as Combined Cadet Force and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The key trade-off is that headline academic progress measures remain below benchmark, so families should probe subject-level support, intervention quality and post-16 guidance before committing.