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State secondary schools in Bolton

20 schools · North West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Bolton has 20 state secondaries, 5 of them with sixth forms. 87.1% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 18.8% to 61.9% passing English and maths, a spread of 43 points, with a middle school at 49.8%, above England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 1 rated Outstanding, 10 Good, 3 Requires improvement. 6 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

20 schools in Bolton. Tap one, or see the full list.
19% 62% passed English & maths

Bolton against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

44%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

1.5% below England

England 45%

45.7

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

21%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

in line with England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Bolton

87.1%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

96.8%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

<0.1%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

25%

Appeals upheld73 of 288 heard

These are figures for Bolton as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Bolton's 20 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 19% to 62%. That is a spread of 43 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Bolton schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathshistorygeographyenglish literatureenglish languagecombined scienceartspanishphysicscomputer sciencechemistrybiologyreligious studiesdesign technologybusiness studiesphotographyfrenchfood technology
  1. 1 Kearsley Academy Bolton · 142 entries 94%
  2. 2 Sharples School Bolton · 229 entries 93%
  3. 3 Essa Academy Bolton · 199 entries 93%
  4. 4 Canon Slade School Bolton · 281 entries 93%
  5. 5 Eden Boys' School, Bolton Bolton · 123 entries 86%
  6. 6 St James's Church of England High School Bolton · 201 entries 85%
  7. 7 Bolton Muslim Girls School Bolton · 149 entries 85%
  8. 8 King's Leadership Academy Bolton Bolton · 173 entries 84%
  9. 9 St Joseph's RC High School Bolton · 200 entries 81%
  10. 10 Little Lever School Bolton · 198 entries 77%
  11. 11 Turton School Bolton · 237 entries 75%
  12. 12 Thornleigh Salesian College Bolton · 258 entries 74%
  13. 13 Rivington and Blackrod High School Bolton · 276 entries 74%
  14. 14 Westhoughton High School Bolton · 256 entries 70%
  15. 15 Harper Green School Bolton · 213 entries 65%
  16. 16 Ladybridge High School Bolton · 202 entries 60%
  17. 17 Smithills School Bolton · 233 entries 60%
  18. 18 Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy Bolton · 185 entries 58%
  19. 19 University Collegiate School Bolton · 91 entries 54%
  20. 20 Bolton St Catherine's Academy Bolton · 135 entries 50%
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Parent guides

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Every school in Bolton

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

3 of 20 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Bolton

4 of Bolton's 5 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Bolton

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Blackburn with Darwen 12 schools · 44% passed English & mathsBury 14 schools · 39% passed English & mathsLancashire 81 schools · 44% passed English & mathsSalford 16 schools · 40% passed English & mathsWigan 19 schools · 39% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.