Hollyoaks High School (formerly Hollyoaks Comprehensive until 2006) is the local comprehensive high school, situated in Hollyoaks. A majority of the high school students residing in the village attend Hollyoaks High School.
John Berrington took over as headteacher from Mr. Butterworth in 1997. In 1998, teacher Dennis Richardson was accused of physical and sexual abuse by his daughter Mandy. Dennis ended up incarcerated and finished his sentence months before dying of liver cirrhosis. In 2000, Zara Morgan set fire to the mural in the art classroom and Mr. Berrington forced her to undergo counselling. In January 2003, Mr. Berrington expelled Brian Drake after science teacher Sally Hunter's daughter was the target of cyberbullying by him.
Sally took over as headteacher when Mr. Berrington left in 2003 and had a much quieter reign. Sally quit the post in 2005 after the science lab exploded: student Justin Burton was excluded despite Stephen Mackintosh causing the blast. Sally was succeeded by Willamina Webster, who was soon faced with the reveal that English teacher Becca Dean had been having an affair with Justin. The staff disciplinary committee opted to fire Becca. In 2007, Mrs. Webster's son Pete began sexually harrassing Tina Reilly and fired her when his behaviours were exposed. Tina's sister Jacqui McQueen took over Tina's job and exposed Pete's behaviour, resulting in his firing.
In 2008, Mrs. Webster resigned from the school and was replaced with Govinda Roy, until he left for Middlesbrough in 2009. In November 2009, local school Abbey Hill was closed down and merged with Hollyoaks High School. In September 2011, Hollyoaks High School became Hollyoaks Sixth Form College. In 2013, Hollyoaks Sixth Form College turned back into Hollyoaks High School, with Patrick Blake as headteacher. Mr. Blake, a much stricter headteacher, had been hired after the firing of Mr. Keeler for his poor handling of the bullying of Esther Bloom.
In January 2014, teacher John Paul McQueen was raped by student Finn O'Connor in the English classroom. In September 2015, Peri Lomax went into labour whilst at the school and gave birth to a girl, Steph. In October 2015, Patrick himself was fired and replaced with Sally St. Claire, but Sally's reign saw a large number of incidents and scandals. In October 2017, the school exploded after a boiler was damaged by Mac Nightingale, with teaching assistant Neeta Kaur dying in the blast. In 2019, deputy headteacher Laurie Shelby sexually harrassed trainee teacher Sienna Blake, but the board took no action.
In May 2019, Sid Sumner falsely reported Imran Maalik for supposedly making threats of terrorism against the school. An investigation was held by Prevent, who concluded that the report was made maliciously and they had no reason to believe that Imran had any intention to harm anyone. In June 2019, on the school's prom night, Laurie attempted to rape his mother-in-law Diane Hutchinson and was pushed off the first-floor balcony by his wife Sinead. Newly installed CCTV cameras captured Laurie's attack and he was incarcerated.
In January 2020, teacher Nancy Osborne was stabbed by drug dealer Mason in the school yard. Mason was connected to students Sid and Juliet Nightingale, who had begun dealing drugs at the school for Mason's superior, Sid's cousin Jordan Price. In March 2022, John Paul - suffering from alcohol withdrawl symptoms - crashed a minibus whilst on a school trip, leaving student Freya Calder disabled. In June 2022, Nancy Osborne went into labour after being purposely locked in a classroom with Felix Westwood by her nephew Charlie Dean, and with the help of Felix, gave birth to a girl named Morgan.
In December 2022, teacher Olivia Bradshaw was found to have faked her qualifications and Sally was confronted by governor Mr. Reid over the school's atrocious OFSTED rating. He decided to fire Sally and replace her with Nancy. However, Nancy took an extended leave as Morgan required heart surgery in the United States, so Nancy was replaced by Freya's estranged father Carter Shepherd.
Current staff and students[]
Staff[]
| Name | Role/Duration | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Staff | |||
| Nancy Osborne | Headteacher (Unknown-Present) Deputy Headteacher (2015-2023; 2024-Unknown) Head of Safeguarding (Since 2024) English Teacher (Since 2015) |
||
| Teaching Staff | |||
| John Paul McQueen | English Teacher (2013-2017; 2020-2022; since 2023) | ||
Students of September 2025 to July 2026[]
The below table features the students of September 2025 to July 2026, which aired during the September 2024 to July 2025 period due to the show's "time jump". The following students are assumed based on natural progression from the previous school year until more information is available.
| Name | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Year 10 | ||
| Arlo Fielding | Since 2024 | Arlo's life circumstances could possibly have meant that he missed a year of school; it's currently unclear whether he is in Year 9 or 10. Based solely on his given birthdate, he should be in Year 10. |
| Kathleen-Angel McQueen | Since 2024 | Kathleen-Angel has lived between the UK and Spain for a large portion of her life, which could possibly mean she is repeating school years. It's currently unclear whether she is in Year 9 or 10. Based solely on her on-screen birth, she should be in Year 10. |
| Year 9 | ||
| Anthony Hutchinson | Since 2023 | The character of Anthony has been aged up by two years. Based solely on his on-screen birth, he should be in Year 7. |
| Dee Dee Hutchinson | Since 2023 | The character of Dee Dee has been aged up by two years. Based solely on her on-screen birth, she should be in Year 7. |
| Ro Hutchinson | Since 2023 | The character of Ro has been aged up by two years. Based solely on his on-screen birth, he should be in Year 7. |
| Year 8 | ||
| Oscar Osborne | Since 2024 | |
Former staff and students[]
- This list only consists of staff and students who have been credited and named. Instances such as teachers named in dialogue or seen in staff lists but do not appear are not listed here.
Staff[]
| Name | Role(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Headteachers | ||
| Mr. Butterworth | Headteacher | Until 1997 |
| John Berrington | Headteacher | 1997 to 2003 |
| Sally Hunter | Headteacher | 2003 to 2005 |
| Willamina Webster | Headteacher | 2005 to 2008 |
| Govinda Roy | Headteacher | 2008 to 2009 |
| Muriel Hyde | Headteacher | 2009 to 2011 |
| Rob O'Connor | Deputy Headteacher | 2010 to 2011 |
| Pete Hamill | Headteacher | 2011 |
| Patrick Blake | Headteacher | 2013 to 2015 |
| Louis Loveday | Deputy Headteacher Teacher |
2015 to 2018 |
| Courtney Campbell | Deputy Headteacher Science Teacher |
2016 to 2021 |
| Laurie Shelby | Deputy Headteacher Teacher |
2018 to 2019 |
| John Paul McQueen | Deputy headteacher | 2019 to 2022 |
| Nancy Osborne | Headteacher | 2023 |
| Carter Shepherd | Headteacher | 2023 to 2024 |
| Teachers | ||
| Dennis Richardson | Teacher | Until 1998 |
| Ms. Riley | English Teacher | 2000 to 2001 |
| Mrs. Mitchell | P.E. Teacher | 2001 |
| Sally Hunter | Science Teacher | 2001 to 2005 |
| Becca Dean | English Teacher | 2003 to 2006 |
| Kathy Barnes | P.E. Teacher | 2005 to 2008 |
| Robin Whittle | Business Studies Teacher | 2005 |
| Russ Owen | Teacher | 2006 to 2009 |
| Mrs. Starkey | English Teacher | 2006 |
| Miss Jones | Teacher | 2006 |
| Paul Pavey | P.E. Teacher | 2006 |
| Pete Webster | Head of Careers Teacher |
2007 |
| Des Townsend | Teacher | 2009 to 2010 |
| Jen Gilmore | Art Teacher | 2012 to 2013 |
| Mr. Sykes | Teacher | 2012 |
| Danny Lomax | Drama Teacher | 2013 to 2014 |
| Sienna Blake | English Teacher Teaching Assistant |
2018 to 2021 |
| Olivia Bradshaw | English Teacher | 2021 to 2022 |
| Hunter McQueen | Art Teacher | 2023 to 2024 |
| Beau Ramsey | P.E. Teacher | 2022 to 2024 |
| Other Staff | ||
| Tina Reilly | Careers Advisor | 2007 to 2008 |
| Leo Valentine | Caretaker | Until 2010 |
| Jacqui McQueen | Dinnerlady | 2009 to 2010 |
| Kris Fisher | Counsellor | 2009 to 2010 |
| Eva Strong | Classroom Assistant Personal Assistant to Headteacher |
2010 to 2011 |
| Amy Barnes | Teaching Assistant | 2011 |
| Neeta Kaur | Teaching Assistant | 2016 to 2017 |
| Prince McQueen | Caretaker Window Cleaner |
2017 to 2018 2021 to 2022 |
| Eric Foster | Caretaker | 2022 |
| Honour Chen-Williams | Counsellor Head of PTA |
2022 to 2023 |
| Goldie McQueen | Canteen Staff | 2023 |
| Yasmine Cunningham | Receptionist Editor of school newspaper |
2022-2024 |
| Diane Hutchinson | School counsellor | 2013; 2023-2024 |
| Sally St. Claire | Headteacher Bookkeeper |
2015-2023; 2024-2025 2023-2024 |
Students[]
Other Information[]
- The school's postcode alternates between CH12 6LA, CH1 2LX and CH1 2LV.
- The school's address alternates between 41 Oakbrow Road and Oakdale Drive; it's possible the campus sits between these two roads and has multiple entrances.