Lathom High School: A Technology College Review 2026

On Glenburn Road in Skelmersdale, the day is built around clear routines, right down to a free Before School Club starting at 8.00am. It is a small detail, but it signals what many families look for: a school that thinks about the whole day, not only the lessons.

Lathom High School: A Technology College is a state secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 to 16 in West Lancashire, Lancashire. With a published capacity of 869, it sits firmly in the mainstream, non-selective part of the local system, but it is also a school with its own identity, shaped by its PROUD values and a strong emphasis on personal development.

The most recent Ofsted inspection rated the school Good.

PROUD is not just a slogan here; it is a framework that turns up across the school’s language and structures. The values are Perseverance, Responsibility, Ownership, Understanding and Determination, with a simple mantra running alongside them: work hard, be kind. For families, that combination usually translates into a culture that aims for steadiness rather than drama, with expectations that are intended to feel fair and consistent.

Mr Paul Livesley is the headteacher, and the tone from leadership leans towards clarity: routines, responsibility and a sense that students should be known well. The school also puts parent involvement on the record through its Parents’ Forum, which positions home and school as partners rather than occasional visitors.

Day to day, the atmosphere described in official reporting is one where classrooms are calm and behaviour is taken seriously. That matters for learning, but it also matters for confidence: schools feel safer when students know what will happen when something goes wrong, and when adults are visible and predictable.

Ranked 3028th in England and 1st in West Lancashire for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data).

GCSE results

At GCSE level, the picture is mixed. The school’s Attainment 8 score is 37.6, and its Progress 8 score is -0.42, which indicates that outcomes are below the England benchmark for progress from students’ starting points. For parents, that is a prompt to look beyond headline impressions and ask practical questions: how does the school spot gaps early, how consistent is teaching across subjects, and what support is available when a child is wobbling.

The English Baccalaureate story is also important here. The average EBacc APS score is 3.42 (England average: 4.08), and 12.4% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above in the EBacc measure. That suggests a school where EBacc entry and success may not be the central organising principle for every student, even though the EBacc sits within the Key Stage 4 offer.

If you are comparing nearby secondaries, the FindMySchool Local Hub and comparison tools are useful for putting these figures alongside local alternatives, without losing track of what matters most for your own child.

Accelerated Reader is built into the Year 7 and Year 8 English curriculum, with a Star Reader Assessment used to gauge reading levels and regular library lessons to build independent reading habits. Alongside that, Bedrock Learning targets academic vocabulary, with expectations set for ongoing weekly work in Year 8 and Year 9. This is a practical, structured approach to literacy: it is less about vague encouragement and more about routine, monitoring, and repeated exposure.

Across the wider curriculum, the school presents itself as broad and balanced, with traditional subjects and pathways designed to match different strengths. Official reporting also describes subject-specialist teaching and a curriculum that has been reviewed and reshaped over time, with particular attention to sequencing knowledge so that later learning has firm foundations.

For families, the key question is consistency. When curriculum planning and assessment checks are tight across departments, students are less likely to drift or collect small gaps that later become big ones. Where it is less consistent, children who look fine on the surface can quietly fall behind.

Because Lathom is an 11 to 16 school, the end of Year 11 matters. Careers guidance is positioned as a strength in official reporting, and the school’s own personal development work in Key Stage 4 is designed to keep students looking forward, not just counting down to exams.

The KS4 Aspirations Programme is a good example of how this is framed: students work towards recognised outcomes linked to the PROUD values, with a strong emphasis on self-management, behaviour, attendance, online safety, and making deliberate choices about post-16 routes. That should suit students who benefit from structure and clear milestones, especially in the busy stretch of Years 10 and 11.

Most students will move on to local sixth forms, further education colleges, or apprenticeships across Lancashire and the wider North West. What matters is that the school makes the transition feel planned rather than improvised, with guidance that is timely and specific to the student in front of you.

The published admission number for Autumn 2026 is 170, and the school sets out clear oversubscription priorities. That clarity is helpful, but it also underlines a simple truth: securing a place can be competitive.

Routes and criteria

Admissions are coordinated through Lancashire, and Lathom is non-selective. When the school is oversubscribed, the priority order starts with looked-after and previously looked-after children, then exceptional medical, social or welfare reasons, then siblings. After that, distance from the child’s permanent home address becomes the deciding factor, measured as a straight-line calculation, with a random draw used if applicants cannot be separated by the published rules.

Demand data shows 373 applications for 159 offers, which works out at approximately 2.35 applications per place. That level of competition does not mean you should rule it out, but it does mean you should be realistic and organised.

Timeline and practicalities

The school publishes specific timings for the coordinated admissions round and the point at which families hear their allocation. If you are planning for a future year group, check the current dates, but keep the shape of the year in mind: applications are typically an autumn task, while allocations land in early spring.

If distance is likely to matter for your family, the FindMySchool Map Search is a sensible way to check your home-to-school positioning alongside other realistic options, so your shortlist is grounded in geography as well as preference.

Safeguarding is treated as a high-priority area, with systems designed to make reporting and support straightforward. The school also uses the SHARP System for anonymous safeguarding reports, which is a practical detail that can make it easier for students to raise concerns without feeling exposed.

Beyond safeguarding, wellbeing appears in several places: personal development work, a focus on respectful relationships, and clear behaviour expectations. The combination is meant to create a calm learning environment, while still recognising that adolescents are not linear and that support needs to be visible, not theoretical.

The school also points students towards digital wellbeing resources through its involvement in the Digital Healthy Schools programme. For some children, the ability to find age-appropriate help quickly can be as important as any single assembly or lesson, especially during exam-heavy periods.

The extra-curricular timetable is unusually clear: it reads like a weekly menu, with a mix of sport, activity clubs and practical options that suit different personalities.

Clubs & enrichment

eSports appears several times across the week, and Science Club is also part of the offer. Choir sits alongside these as a quieter, creative counterbalance, giving students an option that is less about competition and more about belonging to something shared. For families, that range matters, because after-school life is often where children find their confidence, friendships, and identity in a new school.

Trips and experiences also feature in official reporting, including theatre visits and overseas travel. Even the smaller examples, like a virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament, point to a school that wants students to connect learning to the wider world, not keep it boxed inside classrooms.

Sport

Sport is well represented, with clubs such as rugby, netball, football, badminton, gymnastics, dance and multi-sport sessions. There is also a Sport Science option in the weekly programme, which suits students who enjoy sport as a subject as much as an activity.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is another marker of breadth: it is demanding in a different way, rewarding organisation, perseverance and teamwork, which aligns neatly with the school’s stated values.

Transport & parking

The school publishes a dedicated bus timetable, with routes serving parts of Skelmersdale and nearby areas including Up Holland, alongside late buses to support after-school activities. For families juggling clubs, homework support and work commitments, that kind of transport planning can be the difference between joining in and missing out.

If you are driving, allow extra time around the start and end of the day, when local roads are at their busiest.

The school day

Registration and tutor time begins at 8.45am, and the school day ends at 3.20pm. A free Before School Club runs from 8.00am to 8.40am, and a free Homework Club runs from 3.30pm to 5.00pm (except Friday). Late school buses are also scheduled after school.

Competition for places: With 373 applications for 159 offers (around 2.35 applications per place), admission is competitive. Families who want Lathom as a first choice should take the admissions criteria seriously and be clear-eyed about alternatives.

Academic outcomes and progress: The Progress 8 score of -0.42 is below the England benchmark, and that matters for children who need consistent teaching and tight follow-up. It is worth asking how support is targeted when a student’s learning starts to slip.

EBacc route fit: EBacc outcomes are modest, with an average EBacc APS of 3.42 (England average: 4.08) and 12.4% achieving grades 5 or above in the EBacc measure. If your child is highly academic and determined on an EBacc-heavy pathway, you will want to understand how subject choices are guided and supported.

No sixth form on site: Lathom finishes at Year 11, so post-16 planning needs to start early. The school’s careers and personal development work is designed to help, but families should still think ahead about travel, courses and the style of the next setting.

Lathom High School: A Technology College is a values-led, community-rooted 11 to 16 secondary in Skelmersdale, with strong attention to routines, personal development and day-to-day structure. It will suit students who respond well to clear expectations, benefit from organised support around reading and wellbeing, and want a school day that includes purposeful clubs and practical opportunities.

The limiting factor is entry rather than what follows, and families should go into the admissions process with both ambition and a sensible back-up plan.