Meols Cop High School
Academy converter in Southport, PR8 6JS, taking ages 11 to 16, 916 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.08 miles Sefton published for 2025/26, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.08 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Sefton school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.08 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
Meols Cop High School: 1.08 miles, 2025/26 Birkdale High School: 3.52 miles, 2025/26, published by Sefton
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Meols Cop High School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from Sefton. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Sefton, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where Meols Cop High School and Birkdale High School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Birkdale High School admitted from 3.52 miles in 2025/26, published by Sefton. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.08 and 3.52 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Birkdale High School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Sefton, 44 of 124 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (35.5%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Meols Cop High School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larkfield Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 15.39 mi 2025/26 | 1.9 mi |
| Marshside Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 2.77 mi 2025/26 | 2.4 mi |
| Greenbank High School Both in reach | Secondary | 4.51 mi 2025/26 | 2.5 mi |
| Birkdale High School Both in reach | Secondary | 3.52 mi 2025/26 | 2.7 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 916 pupils in 925 places (99% full) |
| Trust | SOUTHPORT LEARNING TRUST |
| Local authority | Sefton |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 16 March 2023 |
| Attainment 8 | 44.7 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.17 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Meols Cop High School
| Girls and boys | 46.5% girls, 53.5% boys |
| English as an additional language | 11.8% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 33.0% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Getting to Meols Cop High School by bus
Best-served stop: Haig Avenue, 103 yd away, with 2.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 07:08, last 23:17.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haig Avenue | 103 yd | 2.8 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 44 |
| Argameols Close | 0.1 mi | 2.8 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 44 |
| Forest Road | 0.2 mi | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 713 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Meols Cop High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around PR8: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at PR8 6JS, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Meols Cop High School?
Meols Cop High School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2025/26 lived 1.08 miles away, per Sefton.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Meols Cop High School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.08 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 99% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Meols Cop High School guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Sefton school's distance
All Sefton schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Meols Cop High School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Sefton. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.