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St Anselm's College vs Upton Hall School FCJ

Both are grammar schools in Wirral, 2.1 miles apart. Side-by-side on official DfE, Ofsted and council admissions data.

Side by side

St Anselm's College Upton Hall School FCJ
Phase Secondary Secondary
Gender Boys Girls
Pupils on roll 1,002 1,004
Free school meals 11% 9.6%
Ofsted rating Good Outstanding
Attainment 8 — 2025/26 63.1 65.6
11+ test board School's own entrance examination (Verbal Reasoning, Maths, English) School's own entrance examination
Admission system pass/fail then criteria order pass/fail then criteria order
Places offered — 202627 157 156
First preferences per place — higher means more competition for a first-preference place 0.99 1.06

Qualifying scores

St Anselm's College

No fixed pass mark. St Anselm's College offers its ~140 Year 7 places in rank order of total score on its own 3-paper entrance test (VR, maths, English incl. writing), with Catholic oversubscription categories applied.

Council source ↗

Upton Hall School FCJ

No fixed guaranteed pass mark. Upton Hall School FCJ sets its required standard annually on its own 2-paper GL exam (English + VR); recent unofficial reports put the mark around 236 standardised — verify with the school for the current year.

Council source ↗

These schools use different tests (School's own entrance examination (Verbal Reasoning, Maths, English) and School's own entrance examination), so their pass marks are set on different scales and cannot be compared as numbers.

Who gets priority

Where a school is oversubscribed, these are the first criteria applied, in order. This is usually what decides an application.

St Anselm's College

  1. Baptised Catholic Looked After and previously Looked After Boys
  2. Baptised Catholic boys living in the relevant area (Wirral, Cheshire West and Chester, and other areas within 10 miles of the College)
  3. All other Looked After and previously Looked After boys
  4. Baptised Christian, non-Catholic boys, living in the relevant area
  5. Non-baptised boys whose parents wish them to have a Catholic education

Source: school admissions policy.

Upton Hall School FCJ

  1. Looked after, previously looked after, or adopted from state care
  2. Baptised Roman Catholic girls eligible for Free School Meals at time of application
  3. Baptised Roman Catholic girls
  4. Children of school staff employed ≥2 years
  5. Non-baptised girls whose parents wish a Catholic education, eligible for Free School Meals
  6. Non-baptised girls whose parents wish a Catholic education

Source: school admissions policy.

Choosing between them

St Anselm's College is a boys school and Upton Hall School FCJ is a girls school, so for many families the starting point is which one can admit their child. The figures on this page are the published ones — they describe intakes and results, not what either school would be like for your child. The right choice depends on your family's own priorities and circumstances.

Full detail for each school: St Anselm's College · Upton Hall School FCJ
Or see all secondary schools in Wirral ranked.

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