Thornleigh Salesian College

Thornleigh Salesian College is a large Roman Catholic 11–18 comprehensive where pupils and sixth-form students are well cared for and behave well. Inspectors found a calm, purposeful school with strong pastoral support, positive relationships and good personal development, including a wide range of clubs, leadership roles and charitable activity. The sixth form is also good, with students often benefiting from more effective teaching and support to fill knowledge gaps. Safeguarding is effective. However, the quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. The curriculum is broad and well planned, and teachers generally have strong subject knowledge, but delivery is uneven. In some subjects, activities do not help pupils consolidate learning, assessment is not used consistently well, and learning is not adapted sufficiently for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The inspection was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Since September 2024, an acting headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed, and eight new governors, including a new chair, have joined. Governance is strengthening but has not had time to bring about lasting change, and quality assurance and self-evaluation are not yet rigorous enough to identify and drive the most important improvements.

Strengths

• High-quality pastoral care and positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Calm, purposeful environment with well-managed behaviour
• Good personal development, including clubs, leadership roles and charitable activity
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Broad, well-sequenced curriculum with strong teacher subject knowledge
• Prioritised reading with targeted support for pupils who find reading difficult
• Good sixth-form provision with effective teaching and support for knowledge gaps
• Pupils display Salesian values such as compassion and kindness
• Recent action to support staff well-being and reduce administrative burden

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is uneven in some subjects
• Learning activities do not consistently help pupils consolidate knowledge
• Assessment strategies are not applied consistently, so teachers sometimes move on too soon
• Learning is not adapted well enough for pupils with SEND
• Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve well
• Information about pupils with SEND lacks the detail staff need to adapt teaching
• Quality assurance and self-evaluation are not rigorous enough
• Governance was historically weak and recent strengthening has not yet had lasting impact
• Leaders at all levels lack sufficient support to evaluate impact and identify key improvements

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Thornleigh Salesian College attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 5.2% of pupils at Thornleigh Salesian College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Thornleigh Salesian College had 14.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 16.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.0% of pupils at Thornleigh Salesian College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Thornleigh Salesian College received £7,774 and spent £7,883 for each of its 1,579 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,064,000 (£674 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bolton · Bolton local authority: places and applications

What is Thornleigh Salesian College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Thornleigh Salesian College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Thornleigh Salesian College last inspected by Ofsted?

Thornleigh Salesian College was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Thornleigh Salesian College have?

Thornleigh Salesian College has 1,574 pupils on roll.

What age range does Thornleigh Salesian College cover?

Thornleigh Salesian College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Thornleigh Salesian College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.0, and 37% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Thornleigh Salesian College?

Thornleigh Salesian College is at Sharples Park, Astley Bridge, Bolton, Lancashire, BL1 6PQ.