[3] The school offers GCSEs, OCR Nationals and NVQs as programmes of study for pupils.

[5] The decision to close the former schools was made in November 1986 by Lancashire's District Education Liaison Committee, in a move that was expected to anger parents, particularly those closer to Ormskirk.

Headteacher of Tawd Vale, Geoff Burnett, presented his own case study which suggested that it was not viable to have three county secondary schools in Skelmerdale, noting that teachers at both schools had accepted the idea of a merger.

It was recommended that further protection was needed by way of restricting the intake of schools in Ormskirk and Up Holland to a five-form entry of 150 pupils, down from 180.

[8] The official opening took place on 10 November 1988 by Jack Straw MP, then Shadow Secretary of State for Education.