With GCSE results day tomorrow, we are looking back at some of the famous people who once walked the corridors of Liverpool's schools. For many young people across the city, tomorrow will mark the start of an exciting new chapter, and these familiar faces are proof of how far a Liverpool school leaver can go.
Liverpool is a city blessed with an incredible array of characters and is not short of famous faces. From sporting stars and musicians to actors and TV personalities, there are countless people who have gone on to make their mark on the world and continue to make the city proud.
Some of those famous faces may have once sat in the very same classrooms, corridors and assembly halls as pupils receiving their GCSE results this week. We have rounded up some of the celebrities who call Liverpool home, or have strong links to the city, and the schools they attended before finding fame.
Football stars and their schools
Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, was a pupil at Savio Salesian College. He has returned to the school on several occasions to give awards out to pupils on sports ceremony evenings. Back in 2016, Carragher took former teammate Jason McAteer to his old stomping ground at the Bootle high school. On his return, the pundit said: "It’s always very rewarding for me to come back here and obviously I’m really pleased to see how well Savio is progressing."
Alex Greenwood, the Lioness, also attended Savio Salesian College, and like Jamie has regularly returned to the school for sports awards evenings. The Euro 2025 finalist is known for her strong links to her hometown. She was immortalised with a 22ft mural on Stanley Road, just a stone's throw away from where she used to play as a child. In 2023, the England star officially became the first ever woman to be awarded the Freedom of Sefton.
Steven Gerrard, former Liverpool captain, attended Cardinal Heenan High School in West Derby. His PE teacher Steve Monaghan said: "I joined Cardinal Heenan in 1991, the same year as Steven. I was told my team had a 'good one' and that much was clear from his very first game. It was Under-12s and we played against Savio in Bootle where Jamie Carragher attended. Steven scored one in a 4-0 win."
Wayne Rooney attended both Our Lady and St Swithin's RC Primary School and De La Salle School in Liverpool. Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and scored 72 goals in one season, a record which stood until May 2010. Trent Alexander-Arnold attended St Mary's in Crosby until he was 14, then moved to Rainhill High School as part of his training with Liverpool FC's academy. Curtis Jones, the Liverpool and England footballer, is a former student of Rainhill High School.
Actors and entertainers
Jodie Comer skyrocketed to stardom with her performance as Villanelle in Killing Eve. She was a pupil at St Julie's School in Woolton. She told the ECHO: "I just feel like there's such an essence of 'Scouseness', there's a familiarity, there's a warmth, there's a vivaciousness." It was being left out of the school talent show that put Jodie on the road to stardom. At 14, she was going to perform a dance routine from hit Broadway musical Chicago with school friends but after missing rehearsals to go on a family holiday, her pals kicked her out. She chose to do a monologue instead, which led to her being encouraged to pursue a career in acting.
Stephen Graham was born in Kirkby and attended Overdale Primary School and Ruffwood Comprehensive. He was introduced to Liverpool's Everyman Theatre at the age of 14, and trained at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance. The actor previously told the ECHO: "School for me was important but I also had activities like at the Everyman Youth Theatre and that's where I really excelled and learnt about my craft and that's where I discovered what I wanted to do."
Coleen Rooney attended St John Bosco Arts College and left school with 10 GCSEs, including an A* for performing arts. Craig Charles went to West Derby School despite passing the 11 plus, because he wanted to go to the same school as his brother. Speaking about his school, the Red Dwarf star said: "It was a very good school. It had good streams - and bad streams."
James Nelson-Joyce, the This City is Ours star, attended Archbishop Beck High School in Liverpool. On how he first got into acting, he told YMLiverpool.com: "It was a bit of luck really. I was just a normal kid, playing football and that. I fancied my English teacher and the only way I could get her attention was by putting on an accent when she'd ask someone to read aloud in class."
Other notable names
Mel C went to Fairfield High School in Widnes and has admitted to being a model pupil. She said: "I kept my head down and got on with it because I knew what I wanted to do once school was over." Born Melanie Chisholm, the singer was born and raised in Widnes. She left school in 1990 at 16 with 10 GCSEs.
Professional darts player Stephen Bunting attended Archbishop Beck Catholic College in Liverpool. Last year, he said: "I loved my time at the college, the teachers were always very helpful and supportive. I mostly enjoyed English with Mrs Monaghan, she always had a story to tell and took a keen interest in my darts career at that time."
Shameless star Tina Malone attended Liverpool Institute High School for girls and Childwall College. Speaking to the ECHO about her schooldays, Tina said her favourite teacher was her drama teacher Mrs Bates. Tina said: "She was the first person to show me Shakespeare and even though I was a bit of a rebel she believed in me. School was strict, academic, amazing."
Katarina Johnson-Thompson attended St Julie's Catholic High School and became close friends with future actress Jodie Comer before going on to study sports science at Liverpool John Moore University. In heptathlon she is a double world champion, double Commonwealth Games champion and an Olympic and European silver medallist.
